






FEEDING 
DAIRY CATTLE 



A series of articles 

By PROF. E. S. SAVAGE, 

as published in the 

Holstein-Friesian World 




THIRD EDITION 

1921 

Revised and Enlarged 




// you have Holsteins 
to sell there is no other 
medium so effective as 
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It is the trade paper of 
every Holstein dairyman and breeder 
in the country. It is the one paper 
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mation that helps him make his 
business a success. 

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"The dairy farmer with purebred Holstein-Friesian cattle will keep up the 
fertility of his farm." 



FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 

Third and Revised Edition 1921 



By E. S. SAVAGE 

Professor of Animal Husbandry 
Cornell University 



A series of articles published 

in the 

Holstein-Friesian World 



SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 






FIRST EDITION 
COPYRIGHT 1917 



Digitized^gMghel 



R8 27 ;322 
©CU653952 

Printed by 

THE CORSE PRESS, 

Sandy Creek, N. Y. 

http://www.archive.org/details/feedingdairycatt01sava 



Author's Note 

IN the preparation of the following series the writer has 
endeavored to give in clear, concise language the appli- 
cation of science to practical feeding. In many cases 
the material has been written hurriedly without attempt 
at finished production, because the whole series has been 
written at odd times, as the duties of classroom and labora- 
tory would allow. In every case it has been the intention to 
state no principle or practice that has not a firm place in the 
operations of our best dairy feeders. 

In this time of stress the feeding of our animals is diffi- 
cult. It is hoped that these articles may help feeders to get 
a firm basis on which to start their plans. The author hopes 
that after they are carefully read that they may be the stimu- 
lation which will cause the reader to study further the prac- 
tice of other men and to correlate this practice with his own 
methods. 

Ithaca, N. Y. E. S. SAVAGE. 

October i, 1921. 



Introduction 

f I 'HE Savage articles on Feeding Dairy Cattle have been 
: ; published in the World from 1 916 to the present time, 
and were reprinted in book form in 191 7 and again in 
1918. Breeders and dairymen appreciated that nothing of 
this sort had ever before been prepared for their benefit — a 
series of practical articles giving explicit directions on the 
important question of how to feed their dairy cows most 
efficiently and most economically. In addition, it was written 
not only from the standpoint of the ordinary dairyman, but 
from the point of view of the Holstein breeder as well — the 
breeder who is anxious to make the most of his opportunities. 
In short, the book of Savage articles comprised the most 
complete, understandable and up-to-the-minute text-book of 
Holstein feeding information ever put together. The first 
edition was quickly snapped up by the breeders, and likewise 
by agricultural colleges and schools, who bought these 
books in quantity for text-book use. In view of this enthusi- 
astic reception, backing up our judgment in the matter, we 
are issuing a third edition, revised and brought down to date. 

The entire subject of feeding dairy cattle, as handled by 
Professor Savage, is based upon actual methods in use by 
successful dairymen. This book differs from the ordinary 
text-book in the important respect that every theory is made 
to deliver the goods in actual practice before it is accepted. 

Professor Savage is recognized as an authority on feed- 
ing matters. His ideas have proven successful not only in 
his own experience, but in the hands of dairymen and breed- 
ers who have put them into practice. He is in charge of 
the foundation courses in Feeds and Feeding at Cornell 
University, and has done considerable experimental and re- 
search work in feeding in that institution. Several cows 
with records of 30 to 35 pounds have been bred and developed 
in the university herd, and one of these cows, Glista Ernes- 
tine, has made seven different 30-pound records. The 
handling of these cows forms the basis of an interesting 
chapter in this book. The details of the care and feed of a 
number of the leading producers, in both short and long- 
time tests, as given by the men in actual charge, form the 
basis of other chapters, invaluable to the man who is inter- 
ested in getting the greatest possible returns from his test 
work. 

Altogether we can commend this book to our Holstein 
friends in full confidence that its careful study will result in 
added knowledge of the subject of feeding that will be of 
practical service to them in their business as Holstein breed- 
ers and dairymen. THE WORLD. 
October 1, 1921. Syracuse, N. Y., 



CONTENTS 



Introduction 6 

Introductory — Dairying and Permanent Agriculture 8 

PART ONE— FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 

I. The Composition and Selection of Concentrates 13 

II. The Manurial Value of Feeds lb 

III. By-Products Used in Feeding Dairy Cattle 19 

IV. The Selection and Value of Concentrates • 23 

V. Forage Crops for Roughage 27 

VI. Curing Hay From the Standpoint of a Feeder 30 

VII. When to Cut Corn For Silage 34 

VIII. The Ideal Ration For a Dairy Cow 36 

IX. Feeding in Summer 40 

X. Succulent Feeds to Supplement Pasture 42 

XI. Molasses as a Feed 45 

XII. The Feeding of Lime and Phosphorus to Dairy Cows 47 

PART TWO— ADVANCED REGISTRY FEEDING 

XIII. Fitting a Cow For An Advanced Registry Test 53 

XIV. Feeding For Advanced Registry Records 56 

XV. Feeding Test Cows at Cornell University 60 

XVI. The Rations Fed Some Famous Cows 70 

XVII. Feeding For Long Distance Records 83 

XVIII. Summer Rations for Semi-Official Cows 85 

XIX. Feeding Fat Into Milk 88 

PART THREE— FEEDING CALVES 

XX. Raising Calves on Whole and Skimmed Milk 91 

XXI. Raising Calves on Substitutes For Milk 95 

XXII. Feeding and Management of Yearlings and Two-Year-Olds 97 
PART FOUR— MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES ON FEEDING 

XXIII. Feeding Dry Stock 101 

XXIV. Feeding and Care of the Dairy Bull 104 

PART FIVE— THE SOURCES OF FEEDS 

XXV. The Sources of Feeds 107 

XXVI. Concentrates Derived From the Corn Plant Ill 

XXVII. Barley and Its Products 118 

XXVIII. Rye and Oats and Their Products 121 

XXIX. Wheat and Its By-Products 127 

XXX. Buckwheat and Its By-Products. Rice and Its By-Products. 

Sorghums and Millets 132 

XXXI. The Oil Meals 136 



Introductory 



Dairying and Permanent Agriculture 

TO ESTABLISH the basis upon which this paper is 
founded we cannot do better than to quote from "The 
Holy Earth," by L. H. Bailey, what is said beginning 
the chapter, "The Farmer's Relation" : 

"The surface of the earth is particularly within the care 
of the farmer. He keeps it for his own sustenance and gain, 
but his gain is also the gain of all the rest of us. At the best 
he accumulates little to himself. The successful farmer is 
the one who produces more than he needs for his support ; 
and the over-plus he does not keep ; and, moreover, his own 
needs are easily satisfied. It is of the utmost consequence 
that the man next to the earth shall lead a fair and simple 
life, for in riotous living he might halt many good supplies 
that now go to his fellows. 

"It is a public duty so to train the farmer that he shall 
appreciate his guardianship. He is engaged in a quasi-pub- 
lic business. He really does not even own his land. He 
does not take his land with him, but only the personal devel- 
opment that he gains from it. He cannot annihilate his lands, 
as another miht destroy all his belongings. He is the agent 
or the representative of society to guard and subdue the 
surface of the earth, and he is the agent of the divinity that 
made it. He must exercise his dominion with due regard to 
all these obligations. He is trustee. The productiveness of 
the earth must in crease from generation to generation ; this 
also is his obligation." 

That last statement is the fundamental : "The productive- 
ness of the earth must increase from generation to genera- 
tion; this also is his obligation." This obligation works no 
hardship on the dairy farmer; on the contrary the more 
closely he carries it out, the more money he himself will 
make, and so much the better his farm will be when he leaves 
it than when he takes it in the beginning. 

All this is simply saying that every farmer must return 
to the soil each year, a little more fertility than he takes 
from it. In no other way is he truly farming; he is simply 
mining and on most of our farms too much mining has 
already been done. We must now begin to farm. 

Page Eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

The dairy farmer with pure-bred Holstein-Friesian cattle, 
who is aiming at a high production with that herd, will, 
without any doubt, keep up the fertility of his farm ; and, 
for that matter, add to its fertility. Let us take the case 
of a farmer who has 20 cows, the average production of 
which he aims to make 10,000 pounds per year. This is a 
good high aim, but not impossible of achievement, and no 
one should be satisfied with less. What must this farmer 
do to make money for himself and at the same time turn 
over his land to posterity better than he found it? He must 
do thiee things: (1) He must grow legumes and corn silage 
for roughage; (2) he must be careful in the purchase of con- 
centrates; (3) if he sells money crops, he must aim to pur- 
chase enough commercial fertilizer to replace the material 
sold in the cash crops. We will suppose that this farmer 
sells from his farm each year the following: Five cows, 
weighing 1,000 pounds each; 15 tons of timothy hay, t.ooo 
bushels of potatoes, and 200,000 pounds of milk. The fertil- 
ity sold from the farm would be : 

Nitrogen, Phosphoric acid, Potash 
pounds pounds pounds 

Five 1000-pound cows 116.5 77.5 9.0 

15 tons timothy hay 297.0 93.0 408.0 

1000 bushels potatoes 210.0 72.0 318.0 

200,000 pounds milk 1120.0 380.0 340.0 

Therefore this farmer must balance these amounts with 
the same amount of fertilizing constituents brought onto 
the farm in one form or another. He can do it by the pur- 
chase direct of commercial fertilizers, but is it necessary for 
him to do this? No; only in part. If he is judicious in the 
selection of feeds, he can make up a large part of this loss 
through those that he purchases. 

To produce 10,000 pounds of milk in one year, it will be 
necessary for him to feed each cow at least 12 pounds of a 
good mixture of grains 250 days in the year. At this rate 
for the 20 cows, 32 tons at least will be necessary. A good 
mixture at present prices is 500 pounds distillers' dried 
grains, 500 pounds hominy feed, 500 pounds wheat bran, 300 
pounds gluten feed, 200 pounds linseed oil meal. 

This is an example of the kind of mixture that should be 
fed to bring the most fertility to the farm and be of high 
feeding value also. Bow much fertility will 60,000 pounds 
of this mixture add to the soil after it has passed through 
the dairy cow? 

First, we must see what becomes of the nitrogen, phos- 
phoric acid and potash in the feed when it is fed to a dairy 
cow. She is normally neither gaining nor losing live weight, 
Page Nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

therefore, she is not storing anything in her body except 
what may go to the foetus, and that is a comparatively small 
amount during more than one-half the year. There are only 
three channels through which the fertilizing elements in the 
feed may disappear, the milk, the manure, and the urine. 
Seventy-five and five-tenths per cent, of the nitrogen appears 
in the manure and urine, and the balance, 24.5 per cent., 
appears in the milk. Eighty-nine and seven-tenths per cent, 
of the phosphoric acid and potash appears in the manure and 
urine, and the balance, 10.3 per cent., appears in the milk. 
Therefore, we see that a large part of the fertility purchased 
in feeds is available to the land. This has never been studied 
as carefully as it should be in this country, because up to the 
present, little thought has been needed to be given on account 
of the virgin condition of our soils and the immense stores of 
fertility in them. Of course, these stores are no way 
exhausted, but must be conserved. In older countries like- 
England, farmers have had to be careful of the fertility in 
their soils, and we will turn for a moment to the English law 
regarding this point. 

This law is quoted from "Feeds and Feeding", by Henry 
& Morrison: 

"British practice — in Great Britain, where many of the 
farmers are long period tenants, the manurial value of feed- 
ing stuffs is recognized by law in a manner that tends 
greatly to the betterment and permanence of her agriculture. 
The Agricultural Holdings Act, which is the law govern- 
ing the relations between landlord and tenant, direct that 
when a tenant is vacating his leasehold he shall be reason- 
ably compensated for the improvements he has made. 
Among these, credit must be given for the fertilizing value 
of feeding stuffs which the tenant may have purchased and 
fed out, and also, under certain conditions for the fertilizing 
value of grains produced on the farm and fed to stock. In 
order to furnish data to guide the valuers who serve in set- 
tlement between landlord and tenant, after full and extended 
study, Lawes & Gilbert and later Voelker & Hall, of the 
Rothamstead Experiment Station, drew up tables showing 
the compensation to be allowed for the fertilizing value of 
various feeds. The recommendations, as revised in 1913 and 
adopted by the Central Association of Agriculture and Ten- 
ant Right Valuers, are that the tenant shall be credited as 
follows for all manure resulting from feeding purchased feeds 
to stock on the leasehold. 

Page Ten 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
"For all unused manure, or that which has been recently 
applied to the land, without a crop being grown thereafter, 
a credit of three-fourths of the total value of the phosphoric 
acid and potash in the feed is allowed. Because a greater 
loss of nitrogen commonly occurs in stored manure than in 
manure dropped in the field by animals at pasture, a' credit 
of 70 per cent, of the total value of the nitrogen is allowed 
when the stock have been fed at pasture and of only 50 per 
cent, when they have been fed in the barn or yard." 

We all know that in all countries the material written 
into the law is conservative. Therefore, the following 
amounts of fertilizing materials estimated from the materials 
in the feeds in the 60,000 pounds of the mixture above sug- 
gested, are conservative estimates. The total available 
nitrogen, if the feed had been spread on the ground, has been 
multiplied by one-half, as allowed in the above extract from 
the English law, and the available phosphoric acid and pot- 
ash by three-fourths. The 60,000 pounds of the mixture has 
been separated into its different constituents in order that 
the difference in feeds might be seen. 

Available in Manure 

Nitrogen, Phosphoric acid Potash, 

pounds pounds pounds 

15,000 lbs. Distillers' dried grains 368.2 76.5 19.2 

15,000 lbs. Hominy feed 127.5 139.5 106.8 

15,000 lbs. Wheat Bran 192.0 331.8 182.4 

9,000 lbs. Gluten feed 182.7 41.7 15.6 

6,000 lbs. Oil meal 162.6 76.5 57.3 

Totals 1033.0 666.0 381.3 

It will be seen that the above goes a long way towards 
offsetting the fertility that has been sold off the farm. It 
almost completely offsets the fertility that is sold in the milk, 
leaving only that sold in the money crops to be replaced by 
the farmer. 

This brings sharply to light the first fact that we wish to 
establish, that by the judicious selection of feeds, all the 
fertility that is sold as market milk may be fully replaced by 
the fertility in the feeds, even when the fertility in the feeds 
is conservatively estimated. 

In the above tables, comparing milk with the feeds, there 
is a slight shortage in the nitrogen. We must remember, 
however, that only 50 per cent, of the available nitrogen in 
the feed has been computed. Then, if legume crops are 
grown, whatever of nitrogen is taken from the air is clear 
gain. This emphasizes the importance of the growing of 
legumes. 

Nothing has been said about the money value of these 

Pase Eleven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

fertilizing constituents. The writer leaves that for the 
interpretation of the reader. Nitrogen on the average for 
the past 10 years has been worth 18 cents per pound, phos- 
phoric acid 4.5 cents and potash 5 cents. All are more expen- 
sive at present. Therefore, we see again the importance 
of getting what we can in feeds. As to choice of feed, with- 
out going into detail, the high protein feeds — cottonseed 
meal, gluten feed, etc. — yield the nitrogen, and the feeds like 
wheat bran made up of the outer coatings of the kernel, 
carry the most potash and phosphoric acid. 

Upon looking at this first table, we can see that mature 
animals carry away relatively the least fertilizing elements, 
therefore, the Holstein breeder, who is feeding his milk and 
selling mature animals at high prices, is conserving the fertil- 
ity of his farm. Therefore, the greatest gain to be made in 
dairy farming, from the standpoint of a permanent agricul- 
turist, is to aim for the best blood there is and to make the 
surplus stock the main cash crop of the farm. 

Then again, if milk must be sold, a glance at the first 
table will show that if the milk can be sold to a factory, so 
the skim milk can come back to the farm, or if butter can be 
made on the farm, a great saving of fertility is made. 

Therefore, as far as possible, from the standpoint of a 
permanent agriculturist, the dairy farmers must learn to 
grow legumes and to market their crops in cream and butter 
and mature animals at high prices. 



Page Twelve 



Part One — Feeding Dairy Cattle 

1. The Composition and Selection of Concentrates 

THE question of feeding dairy cattle is largely a question 
of growing roughage suitable for the cows on the 
farm ; in some cases the growing of a little grain, and 
lastly and most important of all, the selection of the proper 
purchased feeds to supplement the ones grown at home. 

A feed is grown or purchased for the total digestible 
material in it. The water and the indigestible matter are of 
no particular use to the animal and are like the "filler" in a 
fertilizer. Therefore the study of the selection of feeds 
either to be grown or to be purchased must be based on the 
cost of the digestible material and the needs of the cow for 
certain particular things in her ration. The things needed 
in a ration are digestible protein, digestible carbohydrates 
and digestible fat. These are familiar terms to all readers 
and need no particular discussion here. When a feed is 
purchased or grown it is for the digestible protein, the diges- 
tible carbohydrates and the digestible fat in it. The feeds to 
be chosen are those in which we can get the most of these 
things for one dollar. 

The ordinary coarse feeds grown on farms are mixed 
hav, corn silage and cornstalks or fodder. The grains ordi- 
narily grown are corn, oats, barley and buckwheat. We 
must purchase feeds to properly supplement these feeds we 
grow at home and study the growing of those that will give 
us the most at the least cost. For purposes of convenience 
it is customary to add together the digestible protein, di- 
gestible carbohydrates and digestible fat multiplied by 2*4 
and call the result the total digestible nutrients. This is 
usually computed on the ton basis. For example : there are 
in 100 pounds of gluten feed, 21.6 pounds of digestible pro- 
tein, 51.9 pounds of digestible carbohydrates and 3.2 pounds 
of digestible fat. 3.2X2^=7.2 plus 51.9 plus 21.6 equal 
80.7 pounds of total digestible nutrients in 100 pounds of 
gluten feed. The fat in any feed is worth 2*4 times as 
much as the carbohydrates and protein, therefore the fat is 
multiplied by 2]/^ before adding. 80.7X20 equal 1614 
Page Thirteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

pounds of total digestible nutrients in one ton (2000 pounds) 
of gluten feed. Therefore when we buy a ton of gluten 
feed for $33.50, as quoted below, we pay the $33.50 for the 
1614 pounds of digestible material in the ton. One hundred 
pounds of total digestible material in gluten feed would cost 
$2.08. In this way the cost of digestible material in all feeds 
may be calculated and the results used as a basis in the 
selection of the crops that shall be grown for roughage and 
in the selection of the supplements that must be purchased. 
Such a table is worked out below as the basis for the selec- 
tion of the proper feeds to purchase at the present time to go 
into a ration. 

In all rations for dairy cattle there must be sufficient 
protein. In the ordinary roughages grown on the farm and 
in the grains grown on the farm there has been a lack of 
protein, so the second thing to be considered in the pur- 
chase of feeds is the amount of protein in each. To make 
this a matter of easy consideration the feeds listed below are 
divided into high protein, medium protein and low protein 
groups. How to make use of this grouping will be explained 
later. 

As for roughage all that need be said is that on the basis 
of the cost of digestible nutrients alone the roughage that 
all dairymen must grow is corn silage. In no other crop can 
so much be obtained for one dollar as in corn silage. Next 
in importance is the growing of legume hays. The possess- 
ion of a sufficient quantity of good corn silage and of good 
clover or alfalfa hay gives us the finest kind of a start in the 
selection of the feeds that shall make up the ration. No 
farmer can afford to be without these roughages. 

Now to make this lesson definite we will proceed to the 
selection of the concentrates which we would choose to make 
a mixture to supplement good clover hay and corn silage in 
a ration. Below as a starting point is given a table of the 
feeds commonly listed by feed dealers, arranged according 
to high, medium and low protein content. 

The figures in the last column are obtained by dividing 
the cost per ton by the total digestible nutrients in one ton 
of each feed and multiplying the result by 100. It is this 
column and the amount of protein in each feed which guide 
us in the proper selection of the feeds. This is the proper 
starting place. This knowledge must be supplemented by a 
thorough knowledge of the peculiar usefulness of each feed 
in milk production. 

Page Fourteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

COMPOSITION OF CONCENTRATES 
(High Protein) 

Per cent. 

digestible 

protein 

1. Cottonseed meal 37.0 

2. Linseed oil meal 30.2 

3. Distillers' dried grains . . . 22.4 

4. Gluten feed 21.6 

5. Brewers' dried grains .... 21.5 

6. Malt sprouts 20.3 

(Medium Protein) 

7. Flour middlings 15.7 

8. Wheat mixed feed 12.9 

9. Wheat bran 12.5 

(Low Protein) 

10. Ground oats 9.4 

11 Ground barley 9.0 

12. Hominy 7.0 

13. Corn meal '6.9 

14. Dried beet pulp 4.6 

To insure the proper amount of protein in the ration, 
about one-half of the feed should be chosen from among 
those containing a high amount of protein. The following 
mixture is suggested, taking all of these things into account : 

500 lbs. hominy $7.50 

500 lbs. distillers' dried grains 8.19 

500 lbs. mixed feed 6.69 

300 lbs. gluten feed 5.03 

200 lbs. oil meal 3.70 



Total digestible 




Cost of 


nutrients in 


Cost 


100 lbs. total 


one ton 


per ton 


dig. nut. 


1564 


$37.50 


$2.40 


1558 


37.00 


2.37 


1778 


32.75 


1.84 


1614 


33.50 


2.08 


1314 


28.50 


2.17 


1412 


28.50 


2.02 


1564 


30.00 


1.92 


1340 


26.75 


2.00 


1218 


24.50 


2.01 


1400 


35.10 


2.51 


1588 


35.00 


2.20 


1692 


30.00 


1.77 


1676 


30.90 


1.84 


1432 


26.50 


1.85 



2000 lbs. (one ton) $31.11 

It is seen that iooo pounds of this mixture is made up of 
distillers' grains, gluten feed and oil meal. The oil meal 
was not chosen as yielding total nutrients very cheaply, but 
because the writer wishes particularly to have a little oil 
meal in his ration. All the others in the suggested mixtures 
will be found to yield total digestible nutrients the cheapest. 
The author has found this method of great assistance in 
studying the relative value of feeds and in forming a basis 
for the choice of feeds. In using this method current prices 
of feeds should be substituted for those given and the table 
calculated over. Your farm bureau agent usually has the 
prices. 

The above mixture is advised with practically any rough- 
age. It would go particularly well with clover hay and corn 
silage. If no silage is available it will be noticed in the table 
that dried beet pulp and malt sprouts are relatively cheap 
feeds. They make excellent succulent feeds if soaked eight 
or ten hours before feeding. Not as much other grain would 
be needed with these soaked grains. 
Page Fifteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

II. The Manurial Value of Feeds 

ALL true farmers believe in a system of farming which 
is a little better than permanent agriculture. A sys- 
tem of permanent agriculture means one in which as 
much fertility is added to the soil each year as is taken off in 
the farm crops, thus the farm is permanent. Every good 
farmer believes in having his fields a little richer and better 
each year than they were the year before, and that means 
that he must have added a little more fertility than he has 
taken away. If he does this he is carrying on a system 
which is more than permanent. Consequently, one of the 
big questions is how to maintain fertility at the least expense. 
Some help on this question is the aim of this paper. 

The cost of nitrogen per pound from year to year has 
averaged about 18 cents, of phosphoric acid 4.5 cents and of 
potash 5 cents. Due to the war, current prices are some- 
what higher than these but are coming down gradually. 
Therefore anything at this time that will help keep up the 
fertility of the farm will be of great service. One source that 
must not be overlooked is the fertilizing constituents in 
feeds. Here is where the dairy farmer has an advantage 
over his neighbors, hay and grain farmers, because he has a 
lot of manure to use, and is a big purchaser of feeds. From 
a manurial standpoint how can he get the most for his 
dollar in maintaining and building up the fertility of his 
farm? There are two main things that he must know, and 
concerning them he must put his knowledge into practice. 
First, he must know in which feeds he will get the most 
fertility. Secondly, he must so care for the manure and 
urine that none of the fertility will be lost. We will endeavor 
to show first how much fertility there is in the common feed- 
ing stuffs and show how he may quickly compare feeds on 
this basis. 

No one questions the importance of growing all the 
legume roughage that it is possible to grow. In this we 
have a happy combination of circumstances. On practically 
every dairy farm in the whole country it is possible to grow 
either clover or alfalfa. These hays make the foundation of 
the ration and are ideal roughages. In growing them the 
farmer gets one fertilizer constituent, nitrogen, to some ex- 
tent free from an inexhaustible source, the air. The amount 
of nitrogen gathered in this way by large crops of legumes 
amounts to a great deal, and adds directly to the permanent 

Page Sixteen 




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Feeding Dairy Cattle 
value of the land at practically no cost to the farmer. In 
addition to roughage he may grow some grain, but rarely 
does a farmer grow enough to feed his own cows. There- 
fore he must be familiar with the fertilizing constituents 
of the feeds that he must purchase to supplement those that 
he raises. 

When feed is fed to an animal only that portion is avail- 
able as a fertilizer which passes out from the animal in the 
manure and urine. The percentage of each fertilizing con- 
stituent which will appear in the manure varies with the 
animal. With a mature horse, neither gaining nor losing 
live weight, all the nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash in 
the feed must appear in the manure and urine, otherwise the 
horse would of necessity gain in weight. 

The percentages of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash 
recovered in the manure and urine from different animals as 
given by Henry and Morrison are as follows: 

PROPORTION OF NITROGEN, PHOSPHORIC ACID AND POTASH 
OF FEED WHICH IS VOIDED BY ANIMAL 

Phosphoric acid 

Nitrogen, and potash 

per cent. per cent. 

Horse at work 100.0 100.0 

Fattening ox 96.1 97.7 

Fattening sheep 95.7 96.2 

Fattening pig 85.3 96.0 

Milch cow 75.5 S9.7 

Calf, fed milk 30.7 45.7 

These percentages are higher than the amounts recovered 
in common practice. For calculation in the choice of feeds 
for a ration it has been deemed best to adopt the plan 
given in English law which governs the relations between 
landlord and tenant. The following principles of English 
law as recommended and adopted by the Central Associa- 
tion of Agriculture and Tenant Right Valuers are quoted 
from Henry and Morrison : 

"For all unused manure or that which has been recently 
applied to the land without a crop being grown thereafter, a 
credit of three-fourths of the total value of the phosphoric 
acid and potash in the feed is allowed. Because a greater 
loss of nitrogen commonly occurs in stored manure than in 
manure dropped in the fields by animals at pasture, a credit 
of 70 per cent, of the total value of the nitrogen is allowed 
when the stock have been fed at pasture and only 50 per 
cent, when they have been fed in barn or yard. 

"When one crop has been grown since the application 
of the manure, a part of the fertility thereby being used up, 
the credit allowed is only half that stated above. It is 
Page Seventeen 



il value 


Net cost 


ton 


per ton 


$3.37 


$27.63 


4.62 


25.38 


7.91 


23.09 


5.13 


24.87 


7.81 


16.19 


6.08 


18.92 


4.53 


28.47 


4.42 


30.58 


10.10 


17.90 


8.37 


20.63 


15.87 


22.13 


11.87 


23.13 


3,01 


24.99 


9.43 


21.57 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

realized that the beneficial effects of farm manure persist 
much longer than two years, but owing to the difficulties of 
checking records for a longer period, the compensation is not 
extended over a greater time. The principle of the English 
law, as set forth, should be drafted into every lease drawn 
between landlord and tenant in this country." 

In accordance with these principles the following table 
has been computed : 

MANURIAL VALUES PER TON 
Cost Ma: 
Feed per ton 

Corn meal $31.00 

Hominy feed 30.00 

Gluten feed 31.00 

Flour wheat middlings 30.00 

Wheat bran 24.00 

Wheat mixed feed 25.00 

Ground oats 33.00 

Ground barley 35.00 

Malt sprouts 28.00 

Brewers' grains, dried 29.00 

Cottonseed meal, choice 38.00 

Linseed oil meal, old process \ . 35.00 

Beet pulp, dried 28.00 

Distillers' grains, dried 31.00 

The manurial values here given are those computed on 
the basis that a dairy cow returns in the urine and manure 
50 per cent, of the nitrogen and 75 per cent, of the phosphoric 
acid and potash in the feed as fed. The value has been cir- 
culated by multiplying the pounds of nitrogen by 18 cents, 
the phosphoric acid by 4*5 cents and the potash by 5 cents. 

Objection may be made that no such values are ever 
recovered in ordinary practice. Fippin in the Cornell Read- 
ing Course for the Farm, Lesson 127, uses percentages less 
than these. Whatever percentages are used the principle 
is the same and the amounts recovered are large and im- 
portant. Attention is therefore called again to the first 
table, which says on good authority that 75.5 per cent, of the 
nitrogen and 89.7 per cent, of the phosphoric acid and potash 
are returned by a dairy cow, and then consider that the 
percentages, 50 for nitrogen and 7$ for phosphoric acid and 
potash, are used from the law. All men know how con- 
servative are the figures written into law. Again, we have 
used low prices as compared with the present prices for 
nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. 

Concerning the care of the manure and urine, again it 
must be emphasized that more than half of the manurial 
value of each feed is in the nitrogen. Practically all of the 
nitrogen of the feed is returned in the urine. Therefore all 
the urine must be absorbed and the manure so kept that no 

Page Eighteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
fermentation or heating can take place. The best method 
is to spread it over the fields every day. In case this is not 
possible it is at least possible to prevent leaching of the pile. 
Heating is hard to control, but tramping it down hard will 
help. If the manure can be stored in a place where it can 
be tramped hard by animals very little heating will take 
place. This might be accomplished with young stock or 
hogs. 



III. By-Products Used in Feeding Dairy Cattle " 

DAIRY farmers will be troubled to procure feed for their 
cows during the next six months if the indications 
at present are of any value. On account of the war 
and the great demand for cereals for human food, good 
prices are bound to be high even with a great crop this year. 
Therefore this article has been planned to give some addi- 
tional information concerning the by-products that may be 
used in feeding dairy cows. This article may be dry read- 
ing but it is hoped that there is valuable information in it 
for the dairyman who will take the time to read it through. 

All the concentrates that may be used for dairy cattle 
may be put into three groups for convenience in arranging 
proper mixtures. These groups are a high protein group, 
medium protein group and a low protein group. The high 
protein group contains those feeds with a nutritive ratio of 
i : 3 or narrower, the medium protein group those feeds 
between i : 3 and 1 : 6, and the low protein group those feeds 
with a nutritive ratio of 1 : 6 or wider. 

In general it may be said that a mixture of feeds in which 
at least one-half by weight are high protein feeds will be a 
good mixture to feed. One-third of the mixture by weight 
should be made up of bulky feeds. The high protein feeds 
have in general the highest manurial value and so on down 
to the low protein feeds which have the lowest manurial 
value. This is due to the fact that nitrogen is the most 
valuable fertilizing constituent in feed and all the nitrogen 
in a feed is found in the protein. Therefore the high protein 
feeds leaving the most nitrogen would have the greatest 
manurial value. 

Many, many farmers choose feeds according to the pro- 
tein content of the feed almost entirely. This is a very 
important thing to consider but is incorrect if it is the sole 
factor considered. Feeds have a value in direct proportion 
to the total digestible matter in them in all rations with 

Page Nineteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

sufficient digestible protein. Only when the ration as a 
whole, considering both roughage and concentrates, is lack- 
ing in protein does a high protein feed have a value above 
the value of a low protein feed, having the same digestible 
nutrients per ton, except that the high protein feed always 
has the greatest manurial value. 

Corn and its By-Products: With the above introduc- 
tion we may now consider somewhat in detail the by-products 
that may be used. The manufacturing process using corn as 
raw material give us as foods for dairy cows, distillers' dried 
grains, gluten meal and gluten feed in the high protein class ; 
germ oil meal in the medium class; corn bran and hominy 
feed in the low protein class. Corn meal and corn and cob 
meal comes in this latter class although not by-products. 

Distillers' grains, from the manufacture of alcohol and 
whiskey, are one of the finest feeds for their high protein 
content and the large amount of total digestible material. 
They are also bulky. They may well form the foundation 
of a ration. 

Gluten meal differs from gluten feed in that corn bran is 
not added in the case of the meal. This makes the meal less 
bulky and with a high protein content. Gluten feed has the 
corn bran in it. Corn bran is like wheat bran and is some- 
what more valuable. Corn bran, gluten meal and gluten 
feed all arise in the manufacture of starch and glucose from 
corn. There is not much gluten meal on the market. 
Gluten feed may be used as a high protein feed and naturally 
is classed with cottonseed meal where bulk is not needed. 
Distillers' grains would be chosen if bulk is needed in the 
mixture. 

Hominy feed comes from the manufacture of corn foods 
for human consumption. It is somewhat more valuable 
than corn meal for dairy cows and will keep better in bulk. 
These corn by-products are all very useful in feeding. Germ 
oil meal also arises in the process of starch and glucose 
manufacture. It is the cake remaining after oil is expressed 
from the germs or pits of the corn kernel. 

Wheat and its By-Products : Wheat gives us several 
medium protein by-products. Ground wheat itself falls into 
the low protein class. Wheat bran, standard wheat mid- 
dlings, flour wheat middlings, and red dog flour are all sepa- 
rated mechanically in the process of flour making from 
wheat. They increase in total digestible matter and decrease 
in bulkiness in the order named. The finer products 

Page Tiventy 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

are not so good in dairy rations as wheat bran. However, 
all may be used if the total bulk of the mixture is properly 
maintained through the use of other feeds. The relative 
value may be computed by means of the amount of total 
digestible nutrients. Reference to the table in this article 
will show this. Wheat mixed feed is the mixture of the mill 
run of all these separated wheat by-products. That is, if the 
wheat bran, standard wheat middlings, flour wheat middlings 
and red dog flour from one hundred bushels of wheat milled 
into flour were all mixed together, the result would be wheat 
mixed feed from such milling. Good mixed feed is more 
valuable than wheat bran. 

Rye By-Products: Rye mixed feed is practically the 
only by-product from rye. It is a medium protein feed of 
practically the same value as wheat mixed feed but is not so 
palatable. 

Barley By-Products : Ground barley is in the low pro- 
tein class and is as valuable as corn or hominy feed. When 
manufactured into beer we get two by-products, malt sprouts 
and brewers' dried grains. Both these feeds are bulky and 
high in protein. They are both more valuable than wheat 
bran but are not so valuable as such high protein grains as 
distillers' dried grains and gluten feed. There seems to be 
a prejudice against malt sprouts and brewers' dried grains 
but if fed by weight it will be found that they are valuable. 
They are so bulky that one is deceived and apt to underesti- 
mate their value when fed by measure. Malt sprouts wet 
up are valuable as a source of succulence when one has no 
silage. In the opinion of the writer these feeds when prop- 
erly mixed with others, have a value commensurate with 
their content of total digestible nutrients. 

Oat By-Products : In the milling of oats the by-products 
analogous to those from the milling of wheat arise. 
They are not generally marketed as such, but for the most 
part find their way into ready mixed feeds. Care should be 
taken in the purchase of ground oats to see that not too 
many hulls are present. Ground oats are often made from 
light oats. The writer has seen a difference of four per cent. 
in the crude fiber content of two cars of ground oats bought 
at the same price at the same time from two well rated 
companies. 

Cottonseed Meal, Linseed Oil Meal and Miscellan- 
eous By-Products : Cottonseed meal arises in the production 
of cottonseed oil from cottonseed. It is a very valuable 
by-product of the high protein group. It is much like gluten 
Page Twenty-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

feed. Either of these may be safely fed to the extent of 
four pounds per day per cow. In a ration in which both 
cottonseed meal and gluten feed are found, not more than 
four pounds of both should be fed. Much has been said 
about the trouble that these two feeds cause, but from the 
fact that so much of both are fed in the best dairies, it seems 
to the writer that fears are groundless in feeding them in 
moderation. 

Linseed oil meal is a by-product from flax in the manu- 
facture of linseed oil. This feed has a great value because 
of its laxative effect as well as its value as a feed in itself. 

•Cocoanut oil meal and peanut oil meal sometimes are 
on the market. They are much the same in effect as the 
other oil meals and are valuable in proportion to their diges- 
tible nutrients. 

Dried beet pulp is very valuable, particularly when suc- 
culent feed is needed. It wets up readily and is very 
palatable. 

Many other feeds might be mentioned. A farmer might 
well study the possibility of buying a car of grain screenings 
or of salvage grain and make that the basis of his feeding 
operations. Screenings are as valuable as wheat bran when 
of good quality and the value of salvage grain would depend 
on the kind and the amount of damage. Screenings from 
wheat are separated from the wheat before it is milled and 
when of good quality consist mainly of weed seeds and 
broken grains of wheat. Screenings should always be 
ground. The ground screenings are now run into wheat 
bran and wheat middlings in many mills. Salvage grain is 
grain damaged by fire or water and afterwards kiln dried. 
As a rule it is well liked by animals. 

Precautions : In the purchase of concentrates of all 
kinds the tag should always be examined to know whether 
the analysis is up to the standard or average of that partic- 
ular feed or not. The experiment station of nearly every 
state publishes a bulletin on the analysis of the feeds used 
in that state. Every reader of The World should provide 
himself with these tables of analysis and buy on analysis and 
on the content of total digestible nutrients. Agricultural 
newspapers, experiment stations, farm bureaus all are ready 
and willing to give information along these lines. Much 
money can be saved and made by the intelligent buying of 
feeds. 

A brief table is appended showing the grouping of feeds 

Page Twenty-tiuo 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

and their relative values on the basis of total digestible 
nutrients in one ton of each : 

GROUPS OF FEEDS 
High Protein 

Total digestible nutrients in one ton 

Distillers' dried grains 1778 

Gluten meal 1680 

Gluten feed 1614 

Brewers' dried grains 1314 

Malt sprouts 1412 

Buckwheat middlings 1532 

Prime cottonseed meal 1510 

Linseed oil meal 1558 

Medium Protein 

Germ oil meal 1650 

Wheat bran 1218 

Standard wheat middlings 1386 

Flour wheat middlings 1564 

Red dog flour 1584 

Wheat mixed feed 1340 

Rye mixed feed 1490 

Low Protein 

Corn and cob meal 1562 

Corn meal 1676 

Hominy feed 1692 

Corn bran 1462 

Ground wheat 1602 

Ground rye 1620 

Ground barley 1588 

Ground oats 1408 

Ground buckwheat 1268 

Dried beet pulp 1432 

Molasses 1184 

Wheat screenings 1340 



IV. The Selection and Value of Concentrates 

BY WAY of introduction to this paper a few of the 
requirements in a ration for dairy cows may be stated 
with benefit because these factors must be uppermost 
in one's mind when he is selecting and buying concentrates 
for his ration. Seven factors must be considered : bulk, 
digestibility, the "balance" of the ration, variety, suitability 
of the feeds, palatability and, finally, the cost of the ration. 
These factors should be thought of carefully in selecting 
concentrates. The "balance" of the ration and the cost are 
the two factors which will be explained a little further before 
making the selection according to prices. The other factors 
explain themselves in their names. 

BALANCED RATION 

To-day we have a somewhat different conception of the 
term "balanced ration" than was formerly held. In the past 
the term balanced meant practically the nutritive ratio of 

Page Twenty-three 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

the ration and nothing else. That is, a ration was said to 
be balanced if there was one pound of digestible protein to 
five and four-tenths pounds of carbohydrates and fat, i : 5.4. 
It was considered necessary to balance the ration quite 
closely. Today the best feeders agree that plenty of protein 
in a ration is fundamentally essential, but the range of the 
nutritive ratio has been set at wider limits. We now set the 
limits at 1 : 4.5 and 1 : 6.0. It is even thought that in sec- 
tions where carbohydrates in feeds are the cheap nutrient 
that the wider limit may be wider than 1 : 6.0, although to 
the writer it would seem that a careful study of the paper on 
Manurial Values would show that wide rations for dairy 
cows would be advisable only under very exceptional condi- 
tions. The narrow limit 1 : 4.5 is set at that point purely 
because more protein than this may injure the health of cows. 
Many rations as narrow as 1 : 3.0 are fed. We have no 
adverse criticism of this practice. It is suggested, however, 
that cows on such narrow rations should be carefully 
watched. 

The new thoughts of scientists, borne out by practical feed- 
ing trials, tell us that while the nutritive ratio and plenty of 
protein are important, some other things are also very 
important in a properly balanced ration. Much evidence is 
being brought out, particularly with growing animals, that 
not only is it necessary that there be sufficient protein 
present, but that the kind of protein is important. The 
importance of this in feeding dairy cows is apparent when we 
think that for nine months out of every twelve the cow is 
growing a young calf as well as caring for herself and manu- 
facturing milk. The best way in practice to be sure of this 
point is to have a good variety in the ration with several 
plants represented. Later on we are going to know more 
definitely about the individual feeds and recommend specifi- 
cally on this point, but at present we can only advise a 
variety of proteins. 

Again the mineral matter in rations is receiving consid- 
erable attention and study. To insure a sufficient and suit- 
able supply of mineral matter in the feed it seems absolutely 
necessary to feed legumes, and the most satisfactory legume 
from this standpoint is alfalfa. Therefore in our present 
idea of a balanced ration we must consider the individual 
feeds, the specific proteins that they supply and the mineral 
matter that they contain as well as the mere balance of the 
nutrients. I wish we might say specifically at the present 
time just what all these necessary things are and definitely 

Page Twenty-four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

that this feed supplies this and that feed supplies some other 
necessary thing, but in the present state of our knowledge 
we can only urge variety and legume hays. 
THE COST OF THE RATION 

The other important factor on which the selection of feeds 
is based is cost. The proper way to select concentrates to 
supplement roughage is to start with the selection of the 
five or six feeds that are truly the cheapest on the market 
and then make up a proper mixture taking into considera- 
tion all the other factors. 

To make this lesson clear and concrete we will take 
typical quotations and select the six feeds that are truly the 
cheapest. Those feeds are truly the cheapest which give us 
the most digestible material for one dollar. 

The following table has been prepared to show which 
feeds at typical quotations give us the most digestible 
material for one dollar. This table has been computed both 
before the manurial value has been taken out and after on a 
net basis : 



Feed £2 CuSSgSc u£ § %Z *£ Z23 £ 

Corn meal $35.30 1676 $2.09 $3.37 $31.93 $1.91 

Hominy 33.00 1692 1.95 4.62 28.38 1.68 

Gluten feed 28.75 1614 1.78 7.91 20.84 1.28 

Malt sprouts 25.25 1412 1.79 10.10 15.15 1.07 

Wheat mixed feed . . 28.00 1340 2.09 6.08 21.92 1.64 

Flour middlings .... 30.25 1564 1.94 5.13 25.12 1.60 

Distillers' dried grains /30.50 1778 1.72 9.43 21.07 1.18 

Wheat bran 25.50 1218 2.09 7.81 17.69 1.45 

Ground barley 35.00 1588 2.20 4.42 30.58 1.93 

Ground oats 32.80 1408 2.30 4.53 28.27 2.00 

Brewers' dried grains 27.50 1314 2.09 8.37 19.13 1.49 

Cottonseed meal . . . 37.00 1564 2.37 15.87 21.13 1.36 

Oil meal 37.00 1 1558 2.37 11.87 25.13 1.62 

Dried beet pulp .... 27.00 1432 1.89 3.01 23.99 1.67 

The pounds of total digestible nutrients in one ton in the 
third column of this table are found by adding the pounds of 
digestible protein, the pounds of digestible carbohydrates, 
and the pounds of digestible fat after the fat has been multi- 
plied by 2.25. This is the digestible material which we pay 
■for. The rest, from the standpoint of the feeder, is waste. 
Then it is reasonable to select those feeds for the mixture of 
concentrates which will give the most digestible material for 
one dollar. To make this selection easy the fourth column 
is given. This column gives us the cost of 100 pounds of 

Page Twenty-five 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

total digestible nutrients in each of these feeds. For example, 

$2.09 is the cost of 100 pounds of digestible material in corn 
meal at the price given. 

The second part of the table is computed to take into 
account the manurial value of the feeds. The manurial value 
has been computed with nitrogen at 18 cents per pound, 
phosphoric acid at 4.5 cents and potash at 5 cents, most con- 
servative prices at present, and on the same basis as given 
in the article on Manurial Values. 

Every farmer when he is thinking of buying feeds should 
prepare such a table with the prices submitted by the person 
from whom he expects to purchase. If one does not wish 
to do this for himself he should have his Farm Bureau Mana- 
ger in his county do it for him or even request that his feed 
dealer do it for him to show him the feeds which are truly 
the cheapest. (Cornell Reading Course bulletin 117 gives 
all the necessary data for this.) The pounds of total diges- 
tible nutrients in one ton do not change, so may be used Over 
and over again. This figure for any feed not in this list may 
be computed easily from any book or bulletin on computing 
rations. The column giving the manurial value per ton may 
be considered fixed, although these prices would of course 
vary with the price of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. 
They are probably accurate enough for comparing the rela- 
tive value of feeds. 

SELECTING THE MIXTURE 

On the basis of the cost of 100 pounds of total digestible 
nutrients the cheapest seven feeds, one-half the list, in order 
of cheapness are distillers' dried grains, gluten feed, malt 
sprouts, dried beet pulp, flour middlings, hominy feed, wheat 
bran. Not considering manurial values then, we would sug- 
gest the following as a good mixture : 

500 lbs. distillers' dried grains 

400 lbs. gluten feed 

500 lbs. hominy feed 

300 lbs. wheat bran 

300 lbs. of oil meal 

This mixture would contain about 23 per cent of total 
protein and would make a balanced ration with practically 
any kind of roughage. Two of the relatively cheapest feeds, 
malt sprouts and dried beet pulp, have been left out because 
the writer would suggest that if either of these be used that 
it should be wet up and fed separately. If a farmer does 
not have silage this would be the advisable thing to do. 
Feed the equivalent of three or four pounds of the dried 
pulp or malt sprouts daily and cut dry grain somewhat. 
Flour middlings are not used because bran is better and only 

Page Twenty-six 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

a little more expensive. Oil meal has been put in although 
eleventh in the list because of a personal liking for oil meal 
in a ration if not wholly out of the question on account of 
price. The oil meal would not be needed except for variety 
if silage is available and perhaps not needed at all if the beet 
pulp or malt sprouts are fed wet. 

If manurial values are given credit the seven cheapest 
feeds in the list in order are malt sprouts, distillers' dried 
grains, gluten feed, cottonseed meal, wheat bran, brewers' 
dried grains, flour wheat middlings. The following sugges- 
tion is made on this basis : 

400 lbs. distillers' dried grains 

400 lbs. gluten feed 

200 lbs. brewers' dried grains 

300 lbs. wheat bran 

500 lbs. hominy feed 

200 lbs. cottonseed meal 

Here again malt sprouts come high in the list and could 
be used to advantage fed wet. There are several factors 
against malt sprouts. Weed seeds are present many times, 
and may germinate after passing through the cow. Further, 
according to some authorities, the value of the protein in 
malt sprouts is not high. Therefore the use of malt sprouts 
may be more or less questionable. 

This the writer offers as a basis for the proper selection of 
feeds. We invite criticism. It is merely a mathematical 
method of studying prices and the selection must always be 
modified by one's knowledge of what the feed will do. The 
writer has given one example in putting oil meal in the first 
mixture because he likes oil meal in a ration. 



V. Forage Crops for Roughage 

THERE is one great forage crop in the United States 
which is head and shoulders above all others except 
perhaps alfalfa. That crop is corn. Corn is king of 
the cereal grains and for all dairv farmers is king of the 
roughages. No dairy farmer can afford to continue without 
a silo. This statement cannot be made too strong. There- 
fore the main part of this article shall be a plea for silage on 
every dairy farm. 

Early each spring every farmer should plan a crop of 
corn for next winter's feeding, and if he does not have one, 
plan to buy and build the silo in the late summer. Estimat- 
ing thirty pounds per head per day for 180 days' feeding, a 
silo which will hold ioo tons will furnish silage enough for 
liberal feeding for a herd of 35 mature cows or the equivalent. 
Page Twenty-Seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

A silo 16 feet in diameter and 30 feet deep will hold upwards 
of 100 tons with some allowance for settling from the top 
after filling. 

The yield per acre of good varieties of corn for silage on 
good land will average eight to ten tons per acre. Therefore 
plan for ten acres of corn if you have 35 cows, build a good 
silo and be on a firm foundation for feeding in the winter. 

Silage is the cheapest forage that can be grown. To 
prove this a comparison is made with hay. Silage is worth 
for feeding, one-third the value of good clover hay. This is 
a safe and simple way of calculating the value of silage and 
may be shown to be true in several ways. 

1. There are 354 pounds of total digestible nutrients in 
one ton of corn silage; in one ton of red clover hay, 1,018 
pounds of total digestible nutrients. Therefore, on this 
basis three tons of silage are more than equal to one ton of 
hay. If hay is worth $12 per ton, silage is worth $4 per ton. 

2. Look at the cost of production of silage. Can it be 
produced for $4 per ton? 

The best estimate to which the author has access is the 
following table taken from "Feeds and Feeding" by Henry 
& Morrison. This shows the cost well below $4 per ton : 

COST PER ACRE OF CORN SILAGE 

Minnesota Illinois Ohio 

^01 acres 147 acres 115 acres 

Land rental $3.75 $5.28 $3.81 

Manure or fertilisers 3.73 1.46 

Seed 1.06 .42 .28 

Labor growing and cutting crop 5.19 \ 12.26 14.63 

Labor filling silo 4.12 j 

Twine 36 .41 .18 

Coal 42 .46 .25 

Rental of power for cutter 1.39 1.21 1.36 

Interest and depreciation on farm machinery 1.56 1.7.6 1.34 

Miscellaneous 1.13 .58 .42 

Total cost per acre $18.98 $26.11 $23.73 

Cost per ton, 10 tons per acre $1.90 $2.62 $2.37 

Computed in another way, one ton of silage in the corn 
belt will contain 5 bushels of corn at $.50, equals $2.50, plus 
$1 per ton of putting the corn into the silo, equals $3.50 per 
ton. This again checks below one-third the value of hay. 
Other methods may be used in checking up and in every case 
it will be found that silage is the cheapest roughage pro- 
duced, considering its value from the point of succulence, 
which means health and milk with dairy cows, and food value. 

A second great point in favor of silage is the cost and 
ease of storage. This is shown easily by a comparison with 
the storage of hay. A 100 ton silo 16 x 30 feet will have in it 

Page Twenty-eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
6,040 cubic feet. To store the equivalent of 30 tons of hay 
will require 15,000 cubic feet of barn room at least as costly 
in construction. 

This brings up the question of first cost for those who 
must build new silos. A careful study of the comparative 
costs of the different types of silos based on the 100 ton size 
yields the following data: 

Wooden stave silos cost $1.50 per ton capacity; solid 
concrete type $2.50 per ton; cement block $4 per ton, and 
vitrified hollow tile $5.50 per ton. If we add this cost of the 
silo to the cost of production given above, a valuation of $4 
per ton for the silage covers the entire cost of a stave silo in 
one year. Therefore can any dairyman afford to be without 
silage ? 

The next great question is the question of hay. Com- 
puted from the 1910 census, the following table gives the 
average yield per acre from alfalfa, clover, timothy and corn 
on an air dry basis : 

RETURN PER ACRE OF ALFALFA AND OTHER CROPS 

Yield per Dig-, crude Total dig. 

acre, lbs. protein, lbs. nutrients, lbs. 

Alfalfa hay 5040 529 2672 

Clover hay 2440 183 1263 

Timothy hay 2440 68 1174 

Corn (ears and stover) 3440 140 1964 

This shows in no uncertain way why the acreage of alfalfa 
has doubled during the last ten years and put this crop ahead 
of any other dry roughage. Alfalfa hay forms the best sup- 
plement to corn silage. The man who has both alfalfa and 
corn silage has gone a long way in solving his feeding prob- 
lems. Therefore after planning for silage all dairy farmers 
should turn their attention to the production of alfalfa. We 
need not go into detail. A glance which shows the compara- 
tive production of total digestible nutrients per acre and the 
comparative production of digestible protein is all that is 
needed. Then couple this evidence with the fact that the 
alfalfa crop is perennial through at least five years when a 
good stand is secured. Therefore the foundation is silage 
and alfalfa. 

A very significant statement was once made to the writer 
by a New York farmer who had had much experience with 
alfalfa in the alfalfa belt. He said : "If you will do as much 
for the clover plant as you are willing to do for the alfalfa 
plant in the way of preparation of the seed bed, lime, etc., the 
clover plant will do as much for you." There is a chance 
for much reflection on this. We do a great deal for alfalfa. 
Perhaps if we were more careful of our clover and did a little 
Page Twenty-nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

more for it, it would greatly repay us. This gentleman 
practices a short rotation of clover, potatoes, corn, oats and 
clover again. When asked if he did not want a hay crop 
which would stay down more than one year, he said he 
wanted the clover sod for his potatoes. On some fields he 
seeded timothy with the clover and used the timothy for a 
cash crop. Timothy and mixed grasses are a very poor sub- 
stitute for clover or alfalfa hay for feeding dairy cattle. 

Soy beans, cowpea hay and hay from oats and peas are all 
crops that may be utilized for a leguminous roughage for 
next winter. 

Every breeder of Holstein-Friesian cattle should enter his 
animals for advanced registry. A valuable roughage to have 
on hand for this purpose to supplement silage and hay is 
roots. The best feeders advise the growing of the "Detroit 
Red" table beet for this purpose. Mangels will yield more 
per acre. "Norbiton Giant" is a large red variety of man- 
gels for fall and early winter feeding, and "Golden Tankard" 
is a yellow variety which keeps better for late winter and 
spring feeding. Potatoes "may be used, but ordinarily are 
not worth more than 15 cents a bushel compared with other 
crops. 

Some interest is being shown in sweet clover and perhaps 
under special conditions this crop might be used. 

Finally it may be said that the author wishes this thought 
to stick, that roughage for dairy cattle for the greatest and 
most economical production must come from a very few 
common crops, and every farmer must bend his energies to 
perfect his knowledge of the production of these rather than 
seek new crops. These crops are: 1. Corn for silage. 2. 
Alfalfa hay, or, failing this, clover hay. 3. Roots for special 
high production of milk. 

Nothing has been said on varieties except for roots or on 
cultural methods. It is hard to make general statements on 
these points in a short article. The author prefers to leave 
these points to individual inquiry when the local conditions 
pertinent to each farm may be stated. 



VI. Curing Hay from the Standpoint of a Feeder 

THE farmer who raises hay to feed to his own stock has 
a different problem from the farmer who raises hay to 
sell. The latter has only one object in view, to raise 
as much dry weight per acre as he can, of a quality which will 
command a high price. The feeder is raising as much forage 

Page Thirty 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
as he can per acre most economically ; he wishes to have the 
hay as highly digestible as possible and as palatable as 
possible. 

The ideal hay from the feeders' standpoint must be bright 
in color and have a fine clean aroma. These two factors are 
important to make the hay properly palatable. If the hay 
is to be highly digestible all of the leaves must be retained. 
This is an important factor in the curing of all legumes. It 
has been found at the Colorado Experiment Station that 40 
to 60 per cent of the weight of alfalfa hay is in the leaves. 
In these leaves are four-fifths of the protein and more than 
one-half of the carbohydrates other than fiber, and more 
than one-half of the fat. By careful work it was found that 
under very favorable conditions, for every ton of hay taken 
from the field, 350 pounds were lost in the leaves broken off. 
In one instance, under unfavorable conditions, for 2000 
pounds of hay cured 3000 pounds were lost in broken leaves 
and stems, that is more was lost than saved. The portion 
saved under such conditions is the less valuable part, the 
wood}- stems and coarser leaves. The leaves of timothy and 
other grasses do not break off easily. 

The last factor of great importance is the freedom from 
dust and mold. Under some circumstances on land that has 
flowed or on new seeding the hay may be very dusty and 
dirty due to dirt from an external source. But most of the 
dust in hay comes from the growth of bacteria and molds. 
These can only be kept down by proper care in curing. 

With this introduction we may divide the rest of the dis- 
cussion into two parts: 1. Some of the methods used in 
making hay. 2. When to cut timothy, clover and alfalfa as 
typical hay crops most generally raised. 

Three things must take place in making hay: 1. The 
water content should be reduced to somewhat below 20 per 
cent. There is some fermentation going on, caused by bac- 
teria. 2. The curing process must control this so that the 
aroma of the hay will be best to make the hay palatable and 
so that there will-be practically no dust. 3. Hay must be 
exposed as little as possible to the sun to prevent bleaching. 
This is again important from the standpoint of palatability. 

Careful experiments have been made which show that 
dried grass has the same nutritive value as fresh grass. Two 
portions of the same field have been cut and equal amounts 
fed to a cow, one portion fresh and an equal portion of the 
fresh material carefully dried before feeding. The milk pro- 
duction was the same. In all practical cases, however, one 

Page Thirty-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

cannot cure hay without some exposure and loss, therefore 
the cured hay never has quite the same feeding value as the 
fresh material. The loss from the sun is comparatively 
small. The greatest loss always occurs when bleaching 
takes place from rain. In one experiment hay exposed to 
three rains lost 60 per cent, of the crude protein, 41 per cent, 
of the carbohyrates other than fiber, and 33 per cent, of the 
fat. In this case 31.7 per cent, of the total dry matter was 
lost. 

It is difficult to write any method of curing. Probably 
the ideal way to cure hay, particularly clover and alfalfa, is 
to mow after the dew is off, then rake and cock the hay when 
well wilted and while hot. Cock into small cocks. Then 
open out the next day or the second day in large flakes, shak- 
ing the hay as little as possible to prevent loss of leaves. 
The main reason back of this process is that the leaves and 
stems are still alive until nearly dry. The life processes still 
go on and the one that helps in the curing is that the water 
continues to move from the stems to the leaves. If the hay 
is allowed to wilt too much the leaves will become com- 
pletely dry before the stems have dried out sufficiently. 
When well cocked this movement of water will continue and 
leaves and stems all drop out together. In the cock, too,, 
about the right amount of fermentation will develop to give 
the hay its best color and aroma. Of course by this method 
bleaching is reduced to a minimum. If hay caps are used 
perhaps it is best if the cocks are not disturbed at all the day 
after the hay is cut. Many times the cocks may be opened 
after the dew is off the next morning and the hay sufficiently 
cured to be stored the day after it is cut. A modification of 
this method is to cut the hay in the late afternoon, cock up 
the next day and house it the next. In good weather these 
methods work out very well. 

Any modification in the interest of speed and economy 
almost always means curing in the windrow without cock- 
ing. This is all right for mixed grasses, timothy and all hay 
with a minimum of legumes in it. But methods involving- 
frequent tedding and much exposure to the sun, cause bleach- 
ing and then in case of rain the very greatest loss because 
of the maximum surface exposed. Exposure to dew is al- 
ways bad except when freshly cut. When cut in the late 
afternoon the first night's exposure to dew does little harm.. 
A more extensive use of hay caps in the curing of legumes 
will improve the quality of our legume hay very much. Hay 
should be put into the barn as dry as possible but at the same 

Page Thirty-two* 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

time there must be moisture enough to cause the hay to pack 
well. The ability to decide just when hay is right to go in 
is an art and no rule can be given. Authentic instances of 
spontaneous combustion are on record, therefore one mus. 
take no chance by puttng in the hay too green. 

WHEN TO CUT TIMOTHY, CLOVER AND ALFALFA 

The proper time to cut hay is when the largest yield per 
acre can be obtained commensurate with highest quality. 
With timothy hay this is when in full bloom. The Missouri 
Station in an experiment showing average results for three 
seasons gives us the best data: 

YIELD OF TIMOTHY CUT AT DIFFERENT STAGES 

Dry matter Total digestible 
per acre ,lbs. matter, lbs. 

Coming into blossom 3411 1908 

Full bloom 3964 2113 

Seed formed 4089 2030 

Seed in dough 4038 1914 

Seed ripe 3747 1754 

It will be seen that at full bloom the most digestible mat- 
ter is yielded. The farmer who wishes to sell his hay would 
not cut it until after the seed had formed in order to get the 
greatest yield of dry matter per acre. Practice tells us that 
for feeding most animals the early cut timothy is the best. 
Horses, however, may utilize to good advantage hay cut 
later. A like table from Illinois and Pennsylvania gives com- 
parable results on red clover : 

YIELD AND NUTRIENTS IN AN ACRE OF MEDIUM RED CLOVER. 

Yield of hay Total 

Stage of growth when cut per acre, lbs. nutrients, lbs. 
Illinois — Hunt: 

Full bloom 3600 2309 

Heads three-fourths dead 3260 2231 

Pennsylvania — Jordan : 

Heads in bloom 4210 3419 

Some heads dead 4141 3202 

Heads all dead 3915 3153 

This shows that the proper time to cut clover is when in 
full bloom. 

With alfalfa a different problem is involved. Here the 
second crop must be considered. Two general rules are 
observed: i. Cut when about one-tenth in bloom. 2. Cut 
when new shoots appear at the crown. In general it seems 
best to observe the second rule in the interest of the next 
crop. In many sections it is practically impossible to cure 
the first crop of alfalfa. Although apart from the subject of 
hay making it may be mentioned here that one way to con- 
serve this first crop under unfavorable weather conditions is 
to put it into the silo as one would put in corn. The result- 
ing silage is not as valuable as corn silage but is a valuable 
silage nevertheless. 

Page Thirty-three 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

Finally, not enough thought is given to the relation 
between quality of hay and its nutritive value. High nutritive 
value is always found in the best cured hay. Hay making 
as an art or science is something more than simply getting 
the hay dry enough to go into the barn. 

VII. When to Cut Corn for Silage 

THE determination of the proper time for cutting corn for 
silage has passed through an interesting history. 
When silage was first made it was thought that the 
corn plant must be very green in order to make proper silage 
and much of the valuable part of the crop was lost as we 
shall see. As silos have become more and more common the 
corn plant has been harvested later and later, until now it is 
the custom, and the proper one, to wait as long as possible in 
order to get more maturity, with increased keeping qualities. 

In order to study the subject carefully and to find out the 
reason for the practice of waiting until the corn is as near 
mature as possible we must study the nutrient content of the 
corn plant at different stages of maturity. 

This is best shown in a table taken from "Modern Silage 
Methods", published by the Silver Co., Salem, Ohio: 

CHEMICAL CHANGES IN THE CORN CROP 

Tasseled Silked Milk Glazed Ripe 

Yield per acre July SO Aug'. 9 Au?. 21 Sept. 7 Sept. 23 

lbs. lbs. lbs lb<= Ihs 

Gross weight 18045.0 25745.0 32600.0 32295.0 28460.0 

Water in the crop... 16426.0 22666.0 27957.0 25093.0 20542.0 

Dry matter 2619.0 3078.0 4643.0 7202.0 7918.0 

Ash 138.9 201.3 232.2 302.5 364.2 

Crude protein 239.8 436.8 478.7 643 9 677.8 

Fiber 514.2 872.9 1262.0 2755.9 1734.0 

N. F. E 653.9 1399.3 2441.3 3239.8 4827.6 

(Starch, sugar, etc.) 

Crude fat 72.2 167.8 228.9 260.0 214.3 

A careful study of this table will show some very interest- 
ing things. The huge increase in the amount of dry matter 
per acre comes between the milk stage and the glazing stage. 
There is a still further increase before ripening. After the 
glazing stage there is a change in the carbohvdrates. The 
amount of fiber per acre drops more than 1000 lbs. before 
the corn is ripe, and the more soluble carbohydrates, starches, 
sugars, etc., increase more than 1500 lbs. An increase in the 
dry matter per acre, with every day up to maturity, tells us 
that the later we put off putting the corn into the silo up to 
the time the corn is ripe, the more food per acre we are get- 
ting in our crop. All groups of nutrients except the fiber 
show an increase with every day and the loss in fiber is more 

Page Thirty-four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

than made up by the increase in other carbohydrates. Fiber 
is the hardest nutrient to digest and the percentage of fiber 
that is digested is less than the percentage of any other 
nutrient. Therefore the total digestibility of the corn plant 
will increase towards maturity. 

From the average of twenty-one careful trials, with more 
than twelve different varieties of corn, it has been found thai 
between tasseling and ripening the dry matter in the plant 
will increase 193 per cent., the crude protein 98 per cent. 
These averages have been compiled from several sources and 
bear out the statements given in detail above in the table. 
It is seen that when the plant has reached its full height, it 
has really only begun to store up food for use in the form of 
silage. These tables show conclusively how foolish it is to 
grow corn of large varieties for silage, and how much better 
it is to plant the corn no thicker than to 'allow it to mature 
fully, with the largest possible proportion of ears. 

Therefore, due to the larger proportion of food value as 
corn approaches maturity, we can say without any doubt, that 
the time to cut corn for silage is as near maturity as possible. 
The only reason for not waiting until the corn is ripe is that 
there is danger that the silage may not pack well. This may 
be overcome in part by the addition of water, as will be dis- 
cussed under treatment suggested for frosted corn. 

A third reason, apart from the increased amount of nutri- 
ents and less fiber, is in the fact that there is more of the 
carbohydrates in the form of starch as the plant approaches 
maturity than in the form of sugar. This fact has an 
important bearing on the keeping quality of the silage. The 
more sugar there is present the farther fermentation will go 
and the more acid will result. The better quality of silage is 
that that is least acid. Then, too, the losses in food value 
which occurred in the silage after it was stored in the silo, 
in the early days, often ran as high as 20 per cent. Accord- 
ing to the best authorities, the loss need not be above five 
per cent, if the corn is reasonablv mature before cutting and 
the silage is properly packed. The writer has many times 
seen gallons of liquid nearly of the consistency of syrup, run 
out from the bottom of silos when the corn was put in too 
green. The silage in such a silo is sure to be very acid. 
While not injurious, acid silage is not so palatable, certainly 
not so nutritious, and indicates that there has been a greater 
loss than necessary in the silage after storage. 

Page Thirty-five 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

SILAGE FROM FROSTED CORN. 

In the colder parts of the top tier of states in the United 
vStates, if we are going to leave our corn in the field until it 
is fully glazed, or even later, often it is going to get frosted. 
There is now enough experience on this point to enable us to 
say that frosted corn will make just as good silage as other 
corn if properly cared for. First, the corn that has been 
frosted must be cut at once, because if left in the fields it will 
shatter and lose some in this way if it dries out too much. 
Then if the frosted corn is rained on very much the same 
losses will occur as would occur if the corn were, cut and 
shocked. 

When frosted corn is cut into the silo water enough must 
be added to make the silage pack well. Practically it is 
nearly impossible to do this unless the blower type of silage 
cutter is used. Then the water is introduced into the blower 
and the silage is thoroughly and evenly wet. Water enough 
will be added if a good stream, without much pressure, is run 
into the blower with a three-quarter-inch hose. The writer 
has had two years' experience with silage made from frosted 
corn in this way and when fed it could not be distinguished 
from ordinary silage. 

We would advise, then, that when there is a blower 
cutter available and a stream of water that can be intro- 
duced into the blower, corn should be allowed to mature 
beyond the glazed stage before it is cut. We would even 
suggest that some chance be taken with early frosts in 
order to get a more matured plant with the very evidently 
greater food value than there is if cutting is put off until 
the kernels are fully glazed. 



VIII. The Ideal Ration For a Dairy Cow 

THE point of view in this paper is the proper ration for 
a dairy cow after she has freshened and is in full now 
of milk. How shall we feed her to get maximum 
production? Farmers wish to know what is the "best" dairy 
ration. The answer must always be in terms of the sur- 
roundings on each person's own farm. Perhaps it will be 
best to begin the discussion with a definition of the "best" 
dairy ration. That ration is the best which will bring about 
the greatest producton at the least cost, and in looking at 
production in these days we must look at the records that 
the cows make as well as the actual milk produced. There 
is more money in the record and in the offspring than in the 

Page Thirty-six 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

milk itself. The best breeders of purebreds look at the milk 
as a by-product. 

Before the ration itself can be considered, a breeder must 
look to the conditions surrounding his herd. We will only 
stop to consider these for a moment and just barely call 
attention to them. These things are five : kindness, light, pure 
air, pure water and an abundance of salt. 

Every animal in a dairy herd, which is well managed, will 
be so tame that the owner and attendants may catch her 
easilv at any time in the open lot. A dog, be he ever so 
gentle, is of little use in connection with a dairy herd. A 
club or whip has no place in a dairy barn. 

Light and ventilation explain themselves. We must sup- 
ply all the light and pure air possible. It is not costly to 
provide light in a stable, neither is it very costly to provide 
very efficient means of ventilation in old stables if the owner 
is a live, hustling manager with his mind open to the best in 
his power for the comfort of his animals. All the dairy 
papers and experiment stations are ready at any time to help 
and suggest means of bettering stable conditions with plans 
which may be had for the asking. Most of these plans are 
simple and economical and farmers are fully capable of put- 
ting them into execution. 

Cows should be watered at least twice a day. The water 
should be pure and at all times of year it should be free from 
ice. If cows have a place to drink where ice does not form, 
and when they are watered twice a day, it does not seem 
necessary to artificially warm the water. The danger is to 
avoid chilling the animal so that she will not have to stand 
and shiver after drinking. Any system which will furnish 
pure water and which works so that the cow gets all that she 
requires, at least twice in twenty-four hours, is a good water- 
ing system. 

A cow should be furnished with about one ounce of salt 
every day. The practice of our best dairymen varies. The 
writer would suggest feeding each cow about two ounces 
three times a week, either in the grain feed or simply thrown 
into the manger any time during the day. So much for five 
fundamental conditions which must be made right in every 
herd for the best results. We may now turn our attention 
to the consideration of the ration itself. 

In this series of papers on feeding we like to be definite 
even if the papers are not so smooth in their general effect. 
In considering the formulation of an ideal ration, there are 
seven factors, that should be considered. They are : 
Page Thirty-seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

i. Bulk. 

2. Digestibility of the feeds. 

3. The relation of the nutrients — that is, the "balance" or 

nutritive ratio of the ration. 

4. The variety of feeds. 

5. The suitability of the feeds to the animal and the 

products. 

6. The palatability of the feeds. 

7. The cost of the ration. 

1. Bulk. Dairy cattle demand a certain amount of bulk 
in the ration. This is secured by feeding succulent feeds. 
Dry grain and hay do not meet this condition or factor. 
Therefore silage or roots must be fed, and to meet ideal con- 
ditions we must furnish both. This is closely connected 
with the factor of palatability, a succulent ration is more pal- 
atable to a dairy cow. A good definite rule is to feed one 
pound of dry roughage per hundred pounds of live weight. 
When feeding both silage and roots, more than this may be 
advisable. 

2. Digestibility. We should always try to arrange the 
crops so that the most highly digestible feeds will be avail- 
able. Roughage must be fed, but the hay must always be 
well cured. There is probably no chance for straw in an 
ideal ration. The concentrates must not be too bulky. 
About one pound to the quart is a good rule to follow in the 
mixing of grain rations. 

3. Relation of the nutrients. Much has been said con- 
cerning the balancing of rations and the nutritive ratio. The 
writer believes that the nutritive ratio should not be outside 
of 1 14.5 to 1 :6. This means one pound of digestible protein 
to 4.5 pounds to 6 of digestible carbohydrates and the fat in 
the ration. Most farmers do not care to compute the nutri- 
tive ratio of their ration or have not learned to do so. It is 
advisable to know this because this relation is very important. 
However, if we make sure that at least one-half the grain 
mixture is made from foods containing 20 per cent, of crude 
protein, the nutritive ratio will fall between the limits 1 14.5 to 
1 :6 in almost every case. 

4. Variety. No ration has sufficient variety unless there 
are three grains in the mixture. A good check is to have 
three or more grains in the mixture and to have at least four 
plants represented in the whole ration, taking into considera- 
tion in this check both the roughage and the concentrates. 
This is important in getting a sufficient amount of mineral 
matter and all the different nutrients required. 

Page Thirty-eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

5. Feeds suitable to the individual animal and to the 
product are always necessary. 

6. Palatability is very important in large production. 
Here is the place where the individuality of the animal is 
concerned. In a general herd ration, if there is succulent 
food in abundance at all times of year, the ration will be 
palatable to practically every individual and it is probably 
not worth while to have more than one general mixture. 
In feeding a cow an ideal ration for a special record, it is best 
to study her whims and personal likes. If roots can be pro- 
vided, the most palatable way to feed the grain is on sliced 
roots. 

7. Most important of all to most farmers is the factor of 
cost. The more valuable the animal and the more we can 
get for the offspring, the less we need to look at the cost of 
the ration. If a man is keeping the cows that meet the ideal 
that he should have, he can afford to feed them all they can 
eat of the very best foods all the time. However, ideal 
rations may be selected with a great deal of attention paid to 
relative costs. The method of choosing concentrates has 
been given and need not be repeated here. 

Lastly, must be mentioned the amount to be fed. On 
full production with good cows, it is hardly necessary to men- 
tion this — it will be found the most economical practice in 
the end to feed for the first six months of the lactation period 
all the grain the cow can consume. Of course, this means 
all she will consume according to her normal appetite and 
does not mean crowding. About one pound of grain to three 
and one-half pounds of milk will ordinarily be sufficient. 

With the above rules in mind, the following ration is sug- 
gested as approaching the ideal for a cow weighing 1100 
pounds and producing forty pounds of milk per day, testing 
3.5 per cent, butterfat: 

10 pounds alfalfa hay 

30 pounds corn silage 

30 pounds mangels (sliced) 

12 pounds grain 

This grain mixture is suggested : 
500 pounds distillers' dried grains 
300 pounds gluten feed 
200 pounds wheat bran 
200 pounds ground oats 
400 pounds hominy feed 
200 pounds oil meal 
200 pounds cottonseed meal 

The writer is fully aware that in the above, the oats, the 
oil meal and the cottonseed meal are high in price, but in this 
Page Thirty-nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

paper the ideal ration is being considered, and the above 

ration is the best that we know how to put together. 

For those who would not wish to mix so complicated a 

mixture, the mixture given before will check with the factors 

concerned: 

500 pounds hominy 

500 pounds distillers' dried grains 

500 pounds wheat mixed feed 

300 pounds gluten feed 

200 pounds oil meal 

If roots are not available it might be well to purchase 
dried beet pulp and soak up about three or four pounds per 
cow and feed the grain on this soaked beet pulp in place of 
sliced roots. 

In case no roots or beet pulp are fed, a little more grain 
would be advisable. 



IX. Feeding in Summer 

A DAIRYMAN thinks about his cows relatively little in 
summer. He gets up in the morning, milks them and 
turns them out, takes the milk to the milk station and 
ships it and takes what he can get for it, trusting that the 
Dairymen's League will market his milk for him to the best 
advantage. He then does his farm work during the day 
and gets the cows up again in the afternoon, milks them and 
turns them out nights, if he thinks he can find them all right 
in the morning. If they fall off in milk and get a little thin, 
he does not think much about it except momentarily. The 
hair is smoother and the skin is more mellow, the general 
physical condition is much better and the owner does not 
realize that his cow is really going down in flesh. 

The cow on the other hand, is likely to find the summer 
season one of little relief to her. She is required to get out 
and gather her own meals, in many cases does not have 
proper relief from heat, through good shade, and in any 
case has to fight the flies. If she is a fall cow, she is not only 
supposed to produce highly, but she is supposed to grow her 
calf. All these duties and troubles pull her down. She puts 
all she can into the pail, because good pasture is a great 
incentive to high milk production. However, during luly 
and August, she is likely to slacken up. 

GRAIN MIXTURES FOR COWS IN MILK 

It is the writer's belief that the best outlay of money for 
feeds is that expended for the grain which is given to cows 
and young stock while on pasture after the first of July. 
There is no evidence to support the feeding of much grain 

Page Forty 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

to cows and young stock previous to the first of July, when 

the pasture grasses begin to dry up. During flush of pas- 
ture, when the grasses are at their best, cows will eat enough 
of them and make the best use of pasture, unless they are 
extremely high producers. In that case, the chances are 
that the animal will not have the capacity to hold enough of 
the green grass to furnish her with the material from which 
to make large quantities of milk. But the general run of 
cows will be able to produce 40 to 50 pounds of milk a day 
on pasture grass, during June. 

Now, the thing to do is to keep these cows producing 
during July and August at the same rate. The first thing to 
do is to spray the cows thoroughly. We cannot recommend 
any specific mixture. There are several on the market and 
the writer has tried out two or three of them with good 
succcess. About all one can do is to pick the best one he 
knows and use it as intelligently as possible. It is probably 
not possible to spray the cows more than once a day after 
milking in the morning and again at night. 

The mixture of concentrates to be fed on pasture does 
not present a very serious question. Enough must be fed 
with the green crops or silage to maintain the milk flow. 
Do not let the cows shrink. A somewhat heavier mixture 
may be fed than in winter if the market considerations should 
demand such. The concentrates should be chosen as indi- 
cated in the earlier articles in this series. High protein feeds 
should constitute one-half the mixture of concentrates and 
bulky foods about one-third the mixture by weight. If the 
market would indicate such a choice, the following would 
serve the purpose to good advantage : 

500 pounds corn meal 

400 pounds distillers' dried grains 

500 pounds mixed feed 

400 pounds gluten feed 

200 pounds cottonseed meal 

Some authorities think it is not necessary to make a high 
protein mixture for pasture feeding, because the pasture 
grass as taken by the cow provides more protein than hay 
Therefore, we can make good use of the cheaper wheat feeds 
and corn feeds. 

A mixture I am suggesting for dairy cows in summer to 

make a larger use of wheat and corn feeds is as follows : 

300 pounds wheat bran 
300 pounds hominy 
300 pounds gluten 
100 pounds oil meal 

Page Forty-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

Sometime ago, the Cornell University Experiment Sta- 
tion made quite an extensive study of the feeding of concen- 
trates on pasture. To briefly summarize the result of their 
experience we would find about what has been suggested, 
that during the flush of pasture the extra material obtained, 
did not pay for the feed, but after the flush was over, that 
grain feeding paid. 

There is a secondary result from the feeding of grain on 
pasture. It was found in the Cornell experiments that in 
the second year the cows that had received grain while on 
pasture the year before, did better than those that received 
no grain. The second summer all cows were fed alike, all 
cows being fed grain on pasture. The previous year one 
group had received grain and the other no grain. Professor 
Roberts was certain that the feeding of grain to one group 
carried over into the next summer. Professor Roberts holds, 
that the benefit of pasture was an especially marked one in 
the development of the young stock. This showed up in 
their greater production, greater size and stretch over those 
receiving no grain on pasture. 

Professor Eckles, in his book gives the following table 

for feeding a Holstein cow on pasture : 

25 pounds milk daily 3 pounds grain 

30 pounds milk daily 4 pounds grain 

35 pounds milk daily 5% pounds grain 

40 pounds milk daily 7 pounds grain 

50 pounds milk daily 9 pounds grain 

This, of course, applies only when pastures are abundant. 
The poorer the pasture the more necessary would be the feed- 
ing of grain and the amounts would approach the amounts 
fed in the winter. 

GRAIN MIXTURES FOR YOUNG CATTLE 

We know of no grain mixture for young cattle on pasture 
which is any better than the following: 
30 pounds wheat bran 
30 pounds ground oats 
30 pounds hominy 
10 pounds oil meal 

A good mixture without the oats would be : 
300 pounds wheat bran 
500 pounds hominy 
200 pounds oil meal 



X. Succulent Feeds to Supplement Pasture 

IT IS a well known fact among dairymen that cows that 
once go down in milk do not readily come back again. 
It does not seem to be enough, however, to feed concen- 
trates entirely as a supplement, nor is it economical to do so. 

Paqe Forty-two 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

It seems to be as necessary to provide succulent feed, concen- 
trates and perhaps some dryjoughage, at this time when the 
cows are on pasture, as it is in winter when the cows are in 
the barn. 

The writer is of the opinion that it is good practice to 
feed some hay in summer when the pastures begin to go dry. 
Some dairymen think it best to feed a little hay even at the 
flush of pasture. The writer is of this opinion but does not 
urge the practice, but would merely call it to the attention of 
dairymen as a subject for thought and perhaps trial. 

We are convinced, however, that the cheapest and most 
convenient way to supplement pasture is to feed silage. 
Here are some of the reasons : First, it has been conclu- 
sively demonstrated in several trials that the cows will pro- 
duce as much, seem as comfortable and keep up their appe- 
tites just as well when fed silage and grain and perhaps a 
little hay when on pasture, as when fed green crops, grain 
and hay when on pasture. Second, from any experiments 
that the writer has seen, the cost has always been in favor 
of the silage. 

There is every reason to believe the two main facts just 
cited. In addition: (i) It is difficult to get proper suc- 
cession of crops so that each is in its choicest condition when 
fed. Some crops will have to be fed when a little too green, 
others will have to be held too long. (2) It is necessary to 
plant small areas at different times, which is a nuisance in 
busy seasons. (3) When pastures suffer from drought the 
worst, and green crops are most needed, the green crops also 
yield poorly. With silage, an abundance of succulent feed 
is carried from year to year, and the effect of drought easily 
and most economically offset. (4) Green crops must be 
harvested in small quantities in all kinds of weather. It is 
practically necessary to harvest some every day because it is 
impossible to pile them even in small piles without some loss 
in palatability. 

When silage is grown large fields are fitted most econom- 
ically. The best use of labor and machinery is made in plant- 
ing, cultivating, and harvesting the crop. Silage is of uni- 
formly high quality at all times. Greater yields per acre are 
obtained with silage than with many crops used in a green 
crop system. 

The only reason the author can find in favor of the grow- 
ing of green crops, to supplement silage, is the value of 
variety in the ration, and the fact that it may not be best to 
feed a cow continuously on silage the year round. She will 

Page Forty-thre ■ 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

get some rest, however, in a system with silage as the only 
supplement, because in nearly every locality there is a flush 
season of pasture when probably neither a succulent supple- 
ment nor a grain supplement will be needed. 

The method of supplementing pasture with silage alone, 
grades into a second plan which involves the intermittent use 
of the silo. Advantage is taken of alfalfa and clover and a 
crop or two of peas and oats, when these crops are in prime 
condition, and silage is used in between. There will be 
some loss of silage in intermittent use, but the amount is 
small when the silage is near the bottom of the silo, because 
it is so tightly packed and fermentation has stopped. Care 
should be taken to keep the surface of the silage level, and 
to leave it as smooth and as little disturbed as possible when 
pitching off the last lot, when planning to use a green crop 
for a time. This plan has been used at Cornell University 
with success and with little loss. Whichever plan is used, 
the greatset success will be obtained if two silos are available, 
one with a larger diameter for winter feeding and one with a 
less diameter for summer feeding. The smaller the diameter 
the less surface will be exposed at any time and consequently 
the less chance of loss. 

The third method of supplementing pasture will involve 
the use of green crops alone, and means a succession through- 
out the summer from about July ist to November ist. Such 
a succession may be obtained with the use of the following 
crops. The table is computed on the basis of the needs of 
50 cows. The table is adapted from a table given in "Feeds 
and Feeding", by Henry and Morrison, and is quoted from 
Professor Voorhees of New Jersey. This plan, then, would 
be applicable to the latitude of southern New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, etc. 

Date of 

Crop Acres seeding Period of cutting 

Peas and oats 2 April 2 June 26-July 4 

Peas and oats 2 April 11 July 5-July 10 

Peas and oats 5 April 19 July 11-July 22 

Southern white corn 2 May 2 July 23-Aug. 3 

Barnyard millet 2 June 19 Aug. 4-Aug. 19 

Soy beans 1 June 1 Aug. 20-Aug. 25 

Cow peas 1 June 10 Aug. 26-Sept. 1 

Second cutting clover or third cutting alfalfa Sept. 2-Sept. 16 

Pearl millet 2 July 1 Sept. 17-Oct. 1 

Cow peas 1 July 24 Oct. 1-Oct. 5 

Mixed grasses Oct. 5-Nov. 1 

It is not claimed that the above outline is the best that 
may be suggested. It is merely a suggestion to indicate the 
crops that may be used for the purpose discussed in this 

Page Forty-four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
paper, with the probable acreage needed for fifty cows, the 
time of seeding, and the approximate time when the crop 
would be in prime condition to be fed green. Each individ- 
ual dairyman must work out his own system. All dairymen 
must feed some supplementary feeds and can best plan their 
work through the use, of silage. 

Attention should be called to the amount of succulent 
forage crop that must be fed to secure the best results. In 
the winter time we are accustomed to feed a cow 12 pounds 
of hay daily and 35 pounds of corn silage together with a 
good grain mixture. Twelve pounds of hay daily would 
yield 10.5 pounds of dry matter; 35 pounds of corn silage 
would furnish a cow with 9.2 pounds of dry matter; there- 
fore, with this ration of hay and silage, she would be getting 
approximtely 20 pounds of dry matter of the roughage a day. 

Suppose that when on rather fair pasture in July and 
August she gets one half of the necessary dry matter in the 
roughage. That means we must feed enough silage crop or 
green crop to furnish 10 pounds of dry matter a day. Now 
let us see how much of these succulent feeds will be needed 
to furnish this 10 pounds of dry matter. Peas and oats. 
green, have 22.6 pounds of dry matter in a hundred pounds ; 
green alfalfa about 20 pounds; green clover about 20 to 2^ 
pounds; millet about 21 pounds; the corn fodders in the 
tassel and milk stage about 15 to 20 pounds. Therefore, it 
will be seen that to furnish this 10 pounds of dry matter, not 
less than 40 pounds and in most cases, 60 pounds of fresh, 
green roughage must be fed. I think that most feeders do 
not realize this and are accustomed to feed a little of green 
stuff once a day and expect a cow to get a whole lot out of 
it. If you are going to provide green stuff for cows and 
young stock, feed them liberally. 



XL Molasses as a Feed 

THIS year, 1921, due to business conditions in general and 
the sugar manufacturing business in short, molasses 
has been a cheap feed and its sale is being pushed rather 
hard by the different sugar and molasses companies. Now, 
molasses is like every other feed. It is a valuable feed, if it 
does not cost you very much and you should be posted as to 
it's relative value. In this article, I will endeavor to give some 
facts that may help. 

CANE MOLASSES 
When buying molasses, one should buy it with careful 
attention to its composition and guarantee, just as in buving 
Page Forty-five 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

any other feed. A good cane molasses should have not over 
21 to 22 per cent, water, not over 6 per cent, ash and not less 
than' 53 to 55 per cent, total sugar. 

The total digestible nutrients in molasses of about this 
composition add up to 1184 pounds to the ton. This shows 
that on the basis of digestible material, molasses is worth 
just about three-fourths the value of corn meal, and the price 
one should pay for it might very well be based on this com- 
parison. Another comparison would be with wheat bran. 
There are in one ton of wheat bran, 12 18 pounds of total 
digestible nutrients. Therefore, one could not afford to pay 
more per ton for molasses than good wheat bran. The wheat 
bran has the added value of considerable protein and mineral 
matter, which is not supplied in the molasses, the value of the 
molasses being almost wholly in its sugar content. 

Of course, there is a value in molasses in that it tones up 
the whole digestible system and keeps the bowels of the 
animal in a free and open condition. Because of this physio- 
logical effect and the fact that molasses helps to smooth up 
the hair and make the skin more mellow, the first pound of 
molasses that one feeds is more valuable than any other 
pound. Therefore, as a conditioner, a little molasses in the 
ration may be very valuable. This is particularly true if one 
does not have corn silage. 

Molasses is very valuable in feeding cows on advanced 
registry tests and no feeder of a cow on test either for a short 
or long period, tries to feed without molasses. It is not 
usually fed to these test cows in a large amount, but is used to 
the extent of two or three pounds daily. The molasses is 
usually diluted with water, and the water used to soak up beet 
pulp. A customary dilution is one quart of cane molasses to 
ten quarts of warm water. Used in this way, molasses is 
very valuable indeed, and is sought for, for this purpose, irre- 
spective of cost. 

In ordinary every day feeding, molasses is a little difficult 
to handle, unless one has a supply of hot water available at 
all times. I think that it is good practice to feed all animals a 
little molasses, particularly at the price that it can be bought 
at this time (1921).- 

I do no think much of beet molasses, and I see no reason 
for feeding it. The difference between beet molasses and 
cane molasses is largely in the high content of alkaline salts. 
These salts cause the molasses to have a purgative action, 
and I would not advise the feeding of beet molasses when 
cane molasses can be obtained. 

Page Forty-six 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

XII. The Feeding of Lime and Phosphorus to Dairy Cows 

INTEREST changes in the different sides of the feeding 
question. For many years the question of greatest 
importance in the feeding of dairy cows has been the 
amount of protein. The whole question of the balanced 
ration lav in the proper porportion of protein to the other 
nutrients, and a ration was said to be balanced if it had the 
proper nutritive ratio. During the war, this question 
changed somewhat due to the fact that the cost of high pro- 
tein feeds became much less than in any pre-war days, and the 
question of getting enough protein into the ration was not 
so much of an economic question as it had been before. 
Farmers became accustomed to buying quite extensively of 
high protein feeds and putting them into their rations. 
Further, the teaching of agricultural colleges and experiment 
stations, the large amount of publicity given in the dairy 
papers to the rations used by the best feeders, has caused 
most farmers to use feed mixtures containing an abundance 
of protein. 

Just now the question of the proper balancing of a ration 
is spreading out into a discussion of the necessity for vita- 
mines and the necessity for mineral matter. The question 
of vitamines in the feeding of farm animals probably will 
never be a very serious one, because of the fact that farm 
animals get a large amount of roughage in their ration and 
there seems to be plenty of vitamines present in the rough- 
ages and other feeds that are the normal ingredients in 
rations. The question of the proper amount of mineral matter 
in the ration is now receiving considerable attention. The 
question of mineral matter with the proper feeding of swine 
has always been considered important, but the question of 
the proper mineral matter in the rations for dairy cows has 
not received the attention it should, until very recently. 
It is the purpose of this article to summarize the knowledge 
up to date and to state specifically how the mineral nutrition 
of dairy cattle may be accomplished in a practical way with 
some assurance of good results. 

Dr. E. B. Forbes of the Ohio Experiment Station, Woos- 
ter, Ohio, has studied this question of the feeding of minerals 
to dairy cattle more than any other one man. Dr. E. B. 
Meigs of the Dairy Division of the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture has also given attention to this question. What- 
ever is said in this article has been drawn mainly from these 
two sources of information. 
Page Forty-seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

For those who desire to look carefully into this question 
the following references are given : 

The mineral nutrition of dairy cattle is covered by the 
Ohio Experiment Station bulletins Nos. 395-3 o8 -33°-347, 
and in the monthly bulletin of the Ohio Experiment Station 
for July, 1920. Requests for these bulletins should be 
addressed to the Ohio Experiment Station, Wooster, Ohio. 
Dr. Meigs' paper on the mineral nutrition of dairy cows is in. 
bulletin No. 945 of U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

MINERALS NEEDED 

The result of the study of investigators has shown us 
that aside from a liberal supply of common salt the necessity 
for mineral seems to be limited to calcium and phosphorus. 
Ordinary good rations seem to supply all other mineral 
elements with the exception of these two. A farmer ordi- 
narily thinks of the question of calcium as lime. In this 
article we will stick to the terms of calcium and phosphorus. 
Anyone who thinks in terms of lime will know that when we 
speak of calcium, we mean lime. 

A NEED FOR MINERAL MATTER 

The need for mineral matter is perhaps best summarized 
by Dr. Forbes under the following three heads : 

1. Rations abnormally poor in minerals. This may be 
due to an excessive proportion of grain in the ration ; to 
forage grown upon impoverished or infertile soil ; to the use 
of manufactory by-products which are poor in mineral 
nutrients ; or to the substitution of foods poor in minerals 
for a natural food which is rich in the same, as in the use of 
some calf meals in place of the normal ration of milk. 

2. The rapid growth of livestock which have been selected 
for early maturity. 

3. The high mineral content of the product sought — eggs- 
and milk, for instance , especially in unusually efficient 
production. 

Cows need calcium to strengthen the bones and to grow 
the new bones in the young and to supply the large amount 
of calcium which is found in the milk. Careful experiments 
have shown that the dairy cow producing a good supply of 
milk will give out from her body into the milk, urine and 
feces, more calcium per day than she takes in in her food. 
There is only one place from which this extra calcium can 
come and that is her skeleton. Therefore, it is necessary 
for us to feed an abundance of calcium in rations throughout 
the year, in order that she may have a sufficient supply of 
calcium at all times in the feed to supply the amount put into 

Page Forty-eight 




TRITOMIA PIETERTJE ORMSBY 

First prize 3 -year-old, senior and grand champion bull, National Dairy Show, 1921. 




KING PONTIAC PARTHENEA CHAMPION 
First prize senior yearling, and junior champion male, National Dairy Show, 1921. 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

the milk so far as her body is able to do this. If she is unable 
to assimilate enough calcium from the ration from day to day 
to put the necessary amount of calcium into the milk, then 
she must take it from her skeleton. This means that she 
must then build back into the skeleton, the necessary amount 
of calcium during the period of the year when she is giving 
little milk or during that period of the year when she is dry. 
Therefore, it seems doubly necessary to insure a plentiful 
supply of calcium in the ration when she is dry. 

A large number of experiments have been made to study 
out the best way to supply this calcium. First and foremost 
comes the amount of calcium supplied by legumes. Alfalfa 
and clover carry more calcium than any other forms of rough- 
age. All good roughages carry considerable calcium. 
Therefore the first and primary consideration in a proper 
ration for milk producing animals is a plentiful supply of 
good legume roughage. 

In addition, the best way to supply this calcium seems 
to be in the form of steamed bone. There is a product put 
out by the United Chemical & Organic Products Company, 
iii West Washington Street, Chicago, Illinois, called Special 
Steamed Bone, which has been used with success by Dr. 
Forbes. He has also used ordinary packers' steamed bone 
to good success. 

To be very specific, it would seem to the writer that the 

best way to supply calcium in abundance to milch cows at all 

periods of the vear would be to keep constantly before the 

cows a mixture of four parts of special steamed bone and one 

part of salt, or a mixture of four parts of ordinary packers' 

steamed bone and one part of salt. Packers' steamed bone 

can probably be secured from any one of the large packing 

houses. 

MINERALS FOR CALVES 

While calves are receiving an abundance of milk with 
roughage and grain there is probably no need for additional 
calcium. After they have been weaned and are getting no 
milk at all, it would be a good safety precaution to provide 
them with access at all times to either one of the mixtures 
recommended above. 

In the experiments at the Ohio Experiment Station, 
reported in bulletin No. 347, both mature cows and calves 
seemed to prefer the four to one mixture of packers' steamed 
bone and salt to the four to one mixture of special steamed 
bone and salt. The ordinary packers' steamed bone would 
be cheaper and I can see no reason why the special steamed 

Page Forty-nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

bone woiild need to be used for these animals, unless it was 
found in any given herd that the ordinary packers' steamed 
bone was not palatable to the animals. 

If the cattle would not eat enough of this mixture of 
steamed bone and salt to insure the consumption of an 
ounce of salt per day, then salt should be given to them in 
addition, unmixed. 

FEEDING PHOSPHORUS 

The experimental evidence on the necessity of the feed- 
ing of additional phosphorus to milk producing animals is 
not quite so definite or clear. Dr. Forbes' summary of the 
necessities for minerals by dairy cattle seems to indicate that 
sufficient phosphorus will be supplied in the ration if cattle 
Tiave access at all times to this four to one mixture of steamed 
bone and salt. He makes the following statement : 

"With some waste of phosphorus the whole supplemen- 
tary mineral requirements may be served by calcium 
phosphate." 

Calcium phosphate is provided by the steam bone men- 
tioned above. 

Dr. Meigs' work, as reported in bulletin No. 945 of the 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, shows that the feeding of 
additional phosphorus to cows during the dry period seems 
to have a beneficial effect upon their production in the suc- 
ceeding lactation. Dr. Meigs recommends the feeding of 
phosphorus in the form of di-sodium phosphate (Na2 
HPO4). He recommends feeding this as 10 per cent, by 
weight of the grain mixture. Dr. Meigs' method of feeding 
phosphorus is to feed hay one day during the dry period and 
grain containing the sodium phosphate the next day. He 
calls this "alternate feeding with phosphorus." The reason 
' for alternating the hay and grain is this. The calcium 
is contained to the largest extent in the roughage and the 
phosphorus is contained largely in the grain. According 
to Dr. Meigs, high calcium retention may be interfered with 
by a large amount of phosphorus in the ration, therefore, 
it seems to be better to feed the hay one day and grain the 
next with silage every day. 

To my mind, the question is as yet somewhat unsettled 
as to the necessity of this additional phosphorus feeding if 
the steamed bone is fed regularly to the animals both during 
the lactation period and during the dry period. However 
sodium phosphate is not harmful to animals, neither is an 
excess of steamed bone harmful to them in any way. Con- 
sequently, I see no reason why the feeding of both the 

Page Fifty 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
steamed bone during the lactation period and the feeding of 
additional phosphorus during the dry period might not be 
practiced if one so desires. 

The whole question of the proper supply of minerals is 
very well summed up in an extract from Ohio Bulletin 
No. 330. 

Get your farm into a high state of fertility, and treat the 
soil, if necessary, so that it will grow legumes; then grow 
them, making as liberal use as is profitable of fertilizers con- 
taining calcium and phosphorus. 

Consider with care your meadows and pastures ; they are 
often neglected ; if the soil is not rich, the mineral nutrients 
in pasture grass may be doubled by fertilization. 

Build up the mineral reserves of your cattle by growing 
them largely on leguminous roughage or on pastures con- 
taining an abundance of legumes ; and allow them exercise, 
as much as they incline to take. Muscular activity increases 
the avidity of bone cells for mineral salts. 

Feed leguminous roughage during milk production; and 
give the cow a chance to refund mineral overdrafts by con- 
tinuing the liberal feeding of leguminous roughage during 
the latter part of the period of lactation, and during the drv 
period, before the birth of the next calf. 

Use as large a proportion of roughage in the ration as 
seems practical and profitable. 

If you are short of leguminous roughage and must depend 
on corn fodder, straw, or hay made from grasses, or if on any 
other account there is reason to believe that your cows are 
not receiving proper bone food, give them bone flour. If they 
are already in good order there will be no marked change in 
condition but the feeding of bone flour will help to keep them 
at their best, and is good insurance. 

In conclusion, I think we should see that the experimental 
evidence with regard to the whole question of mineral 
nutrition is not definitely decided and that it is very difficult 
to bring out definitely, any increased milk production through 
the feeding of additional minerals, but I would like to leave 
it with dairymen that I definitely suggest the feeding of some 
steamed bone flour at least during the dry period and for the 
best results, it seems that we would certainly have better and 
larger animals with the feeding of some steamed bone flour 
to our animals during their entire lives, I think there is less 
doubt of this than there is doubt of the question of feeding 
the additional phosphorus, in the feeding of sodium 
phosphate. 

Page Fifty-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

In addition to its possible effect in size and production 
the feeding of a proper amount of mineral matter in the 
rations is bound to have a good effect on the breeding 
efficiency of dairy cattle. Observation tells us that with an 
abundance of mineral matter in the ration there is less 
sterility and other breeding troubles in the herd. 



Page Fifty-two 



Part Two — Advanced Registry Feeding 

XIII. Fitting a Cow for An Advanced Registry Test 

THE best preparation for large advanced registry records 
is in proper breeding. The quickest way to get a herd 
properly bred is through the influence of the sire. 
Presumably this article is to be on the care and management 
and the feeding of cows that are to be tested for advanced 
registry, but the writer cannot refrain from introducing it 
with a few words on breeding. There is not much to be 
said on the feeding of animals about to be tested. The grain 
mixtures to be recommended are based on a few simple 
principles that can be put in a few words, and those words 
will be given a little further along. 

A farmer who is going to test his animals regularly and 
keep it up, must school himself to the point where he will be 
willing to pay big money for the head of his herd. No 
volumes on fitting or on feeding are going to help him or 
make large records for him on animals that have not been 
well bred from the start, to give them the constitution and 
capacity to handle the feed necessary to produce the milk 
and fat. 

Therefore study the breeding of your herd and the indi- 
viduals, and study the breeding of those animals that are 
making the big records all the time. Then the sooner that 
you get the sire with the right kind of breeding and get the 
right kind of breeding in the cows to which he can be bred, 
the sooner the large records will come to your herd. We 
do not mean by this that feed and care are not important, 
for they are all important. But first of all let us get the 
cows and the bull and get to breeding right. 

Then right on top of breeding comes experience. And 
the only way to get experience in testing is to test. A great 
many young breeders hesitate to begin testing because they 
think too much of the expense of it. It is expensive. But 
the plunge has to be taken sooner or later, and the sooner 
the better. The easiest time to put an A. R. O. record on a 
cow is when she is a heifer. Each year makes the require- 
ment that much higher. Even if the records are low thev 
are always worth more than they cost. It is so much better 
to say that this or that cow has an A. R. O. record than to 
Page Fifty-three 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

try to sell her or her calf when she has no record at all. If 
she is registered she is entitled to a record. And any farmer 
with any knowledge of feeding at all can at least cause his 
animals to make requirements. Many times he will be sur- 
prised with the results. 

So begin, and begin now. With a beginning will come 
experience and interest. Then will come the great desire 
to have the best that is going and with those, with common 
sense, this means the beginning of real success in the dairy 
farming business. 

Before beginning the actual feeding suggestions, the 
writer wishes to quote a little from a bulletin written by 
Professor T. L. Haecker, of Minnesota. In the handling of 
highly bred animals, and particularly of those we expect to 
test, kindness and even pampering will bring in good returns. 
Professor Haecker says this very well and we take the lib- 
erty to quote him : 

"We know of many instances where the best of dairy 
cows were kept, and where good methods of feeding were 
practical and still results fell far short of what might 
reasonably be expected, simply because the animals did not 
receive that kindly treatment which is so essential to a cow 
giving much milk over a long period. The herd as a whole 
should always be moved slowly. Never hurrv a cow or 
strike her or speak loudly or harshly. A gentle voice and 
a caressing touch are quite as potent as is digestible protein. 
If you so handle the cows that they are fond of you, vou 
have learned one of the most important lessons that lead to 
profitable dairying. The most successful milk-producers 
are always in close touch with every cow in the herd. The 
milk-producer has to do with motherhood, in which affec- 
tion always plays an important part. A cow's affection for 
the calf prompts the desire to give it milk; if you gain her 
affection she will desire to give you milk. If you have not 
been in the habit of caressing the cows, the time to inaugu- ' 
rate the practice is when they approach the time of calving, 
as it is at that particular time when they take kindly to 
grooming and to gentle rubbing of the udder." 

In taking up suggestions for the feeding and management 
of animals that are tested we will take the heifers first. The 
preparation of a heifer for testing must begin when she is 
born. She must be grown well from the start. Much has 
been said about getting young stock too fat and thus destrov- 
ing their dairy qualities and inducing them to lay on fat after 
calving rather than to turn all the feed into milk and butter fat. 

Page Fifty -four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

Some careful experiments have been made by Professor 
Eckles on this point and the results seem to favor 
keeping the heifer somewhat fat for the best results in test 
when the time comes. Eckles fed one heifer on rich and 
abundant rations from birth to calving, while another was 
kept poor and thin. After calving the milk of the well-fed 
heifer tested over 4 per cent., while that of the poor heifer 
tested 3 per cent. After calving the fat heifer declined in 
weight and the percentage of fat in the milk remained about 
constant. The weight of the thin heifer remained about 
the same. After several weeks the weight of the fat heifer 
became constant and the percentage of fat in the milk 
declined somewhat. In the end the percentage of fat in the 
milk of both heifers was practically the same for the 
remainder of the lactation period. Observation by others has 
led to the same conclusion. Therefore it would seem to be 
wise to grow heifers well and fatten them somewhat before 
calving. There is no evidence to show that heifers treated 
in this way will be of poorer dairy temperament than heifers 
of the same breeding that have been grown on less grain and 
more roughage, heifers that have made equally good growth 
in frame but are not so fat at time of calving. 

It may be well to let heifers that are to be tested after 
their first calf get well developed before breeding. This 
means to breed them to drop their first calves at thirty 
months. The strain of testing the first lactation and conse- 
quent high milk production may keep them from growing 
as well during this first lactation period. Then it is a good 
plan to milk them a full twelve months this first lactation 
period to form a habit of holding out well. 

Good silage and legume hay is the foundation of the 
ration in the preparation period. The list of grains from which 
to choose is not long. Corn, oats, barley, wheat bran and oil 
meal are enough to choose from. A good mixture is: 

30 pounds of corn meal or hominy 

30 pounds of wheat bran 

30 pounds of ground oats 

10 pounds of oil meal 

Another mixture liked by many is a modification of the 
above with more oil meal, i. e., using equal parts of hominy, 
wheat bran, ground oats and oil meal. One modifies it to 
suit himself. 

Barley might be substituted for the corn meal and oats in 
part. This is simply a good growing ration and a fattening 
ration when fed in sufficient quantity. The feeder will feed 
enough in connection with the roughage to get the heifers 

Page Fifty -five 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

as fat as he thinks they should be. This will mean four to 
six pounds a day, practically from one year old to the time of 
calving, except on the very best of pasture. 

The same mixture does very well for mature cows that 
are to be tested. Sometimes it is necessary to feed mature 
animals 10 to 12 pounds per day to get them in proper condi- 
tion. It is the usual custom to rest cows that are to be 
tested a long period before. It has always seemed to the 
writer that a period longer than twelve weeks is not neces- 
sary, and perhaps it is detrimental to the best interests of 
the breed if the rest period is longer than eight to ten weeks. 



XIV. Feeding for Advanced Registry Records 

IN OFFERING suggestions in the feeding of individual 
cows which are being tested for advanced registry records, 

it is assumed that these animals have been rested for a 
period of eight to twelve weeks after having been carefully 
dried off. It is supposed that they have been well fed and 
•cared for, that they have calved and cleaned all right and 
that they are in good flesh. Perhaps it is well to have them 
more than in good flesh, they should be fat for the best 
results. 

While a large number of records have beemmade directly 
after calving in the first three weeks, on the average a cow 
does not strike her best gait until about three weeks after she 
lias dropped her calf. She should be treated carefully from the 
start and watched, milked and cared for just as if she were 
doing her best at all times and if she shows a tendency to 
strike her gait early, then it is well to be ready for it and 
take all advantage of such a condition. Applications for a 
supervisor should be made with the proper authorities early 
enough to insure having one when one is needed. Getting a 
supervisor within two or three days of the time actually 
needed is almost entirely a question of making an applica- 
tion early enough, months before one really needs him. The 
experiment station or college authorities who send out the 
"supervisors and authenticate the records are always very 
willing to cancel applications or. to defer the time when a 
supervisor shall be sent if a reasonable notice is given by the 
breeder that he wishes his application cancelled or wishes his 
test deferred. Therefore to be on the safe side, send in 
your application about three months before the time yon 

Page Fifty-six 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

will actually want the supervisor on the ground and then 
cancel or defer if necessary according to the way the cows 
show up. A little attention to this matter of early applica- 
tion will help the breeders to get supervisors when they want 
them and will help the authorities that authenticate the 
records to give better satisfaction to the breeder. 

After a cow freshens and has straightened out she may be 
fed on good roughage and about four or five pounds per day 
of the grain mixture that was recommended for fitting, that 
is, a mixture of 30 pounds of wheat bran, 30 pounds of hom- 
iny feed, 30 pounds of ground oats and 10 pounds of oil meal 
or some modification of it. If everything goes all right the 
cow may be changed to the test ration three or four days 
after calving and the amount of grain gradually increased 
to the limit of her appetite. The increase should not be 
made faster than one pound per day except in some indi- 
vidual cases when the feeder knows his animal thoroughly 
well and knows that she can stand a more rapid increase than 
this. 

The Test Rations: For roughage the first requisite 
seems to be alfalfa hay, or, if this is not obtainable, clover 
hay, corn silage with as much grain in it as possible and 
beets. The "Detroit Red" table beet seems to be preferrerl 
by most breeders. Mangels give nearly as good results. 
"Norbition Giant" is a good variety of red mangels, but is 
not as late a keeper as the yellow fleshed variety, "Golden 
Tankard." As to methods of feeding the roughage, most 
feeders slice the beets and feed the grain on them while the 
cow is being milked. It is usually best to milk four times 
in each twenty-four hours at intervals of six hours. This 
means from ten to fifteen pounds of sliced beets at a feed 
with a quarter portion of the grain mixture poured on the 
beets. If the cow does not have access to water whenever 
she wants it she should be watered before each milking. 
She can then be fed silage twice a day and hay twice a day, 
alternating the feed of these roughages between milkings. 
It is good practice to feed all the hay and silage she will eat. 
always seeing to it that her appetite is kept keen for all her 
food. In late years the practice of feeding silage has changed 
somewhat. Less and less silage is being used and more 
beet pulp and molasses are fed in its place. The silage is fed 
many times just to leave a nice clean acid taste in the cow's 
mouth. 

Page Fifty-seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

The Mixture of Concentrates : The writer suggests the 

following as a good mixture of concentrates : 

500 pounds distillers' dried grains 

300 pounds gluten feed 

400 pounds wheat bran 

400 pounds hominy feed 

200 pounds oil meal 

200 pounds cottonseed meal 

This mixture of concentrates has given good satisfaction 
in a number of instances. 

No exact directions can be given as to the amount of 
concentrates that shall be fed. This must be decided by the 
feeder. The size of the animal, her appetite, capacity, con- 
dition of flesh, are all characteristics which have an important 
bearing on the question of the amount to feed. Some cows 
are what is known as good feeders ; others must be carefully 
watched. Sometimes it seems that the best way to handle 
a cow is to force her appetite to its limit until she is almost 
off feed. If she can be kept up to this limit it seems to have 
the effect of causing her to test high. If there is an indica- 
tion that she may go off feed a good thing to do is to change 
her ration to the mixture of 30 pounds of wheat bran, 30 
pounds of ground oats, 30 pounds of hominy and 10 pounds 
of oil meal, for a couple of feeds and reduce the amount even 
to two pounds. This sudden change of mixture and reduc- 
tion of amount will cause her, many times, to come back on 
her feed at once with vigorous appetite. If a fluctuation in 
per cent, of butterfat is caused by this sudden change it is 
likely to be toward a higher plane. To those who have a 
quantity of good ground oats on hand, it might be well to 
put some ground oats in place of some of the bran and 
hominy feed. 

The principles on which these suggestions for rations are 
based are simple. Alfalfa hay is good in itself and may be 
particularly useful in furnishing an abundant supply of lime, 
particularly in long time tests. The silage and beets are 
cooling and laxative. The mixture of concentrates sug- 
gested is properly put together to furnish a bulky mixture, 
plenty of easily digestible material, plenty of variety and an 
abundance of protein. Such large variety will probably 
insure a sufficient supply of the proper protein constituents 
and vitamines and things of this nature about which not very 
much is definitely known beyond the fact that the lack of an 
almost infinitely small amount may be the limiting factor 
in any given ration. 

A study made by a student, Mr. W. L. Houck,- under the 

Page Fifty-eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

writer's direction about two years ago, may be of interest in 
this connection. Mr. Houck wrote to the ten breeders and 
feeders of the cows holding the highest yearly semi-official 
records in each of the four leading dairy breeds, Holstein- 
Friesian, Guernsey, Jersey and Ayrshire. He received 
answers to twenty-two letters out of the forty. He tabu- 
lated the results and found that the following feeds occurred 
in the rations the following number of iimes: 

Alfalfa hay 12 

Clover hay None 

Mixed hay 11 

Beets or mangels 18 

Corn silage 17 

Pasture 11 

Carrots 9 

It is interesting to note that no one of the twenty-two 
breeders reported the use of clover hay; it was either mixed 
hay or alfalfa. Soiling crops were used in a few scattering 
cases. Pasture of course shows many times in these reports 
because these were reports on yearly record feeding. It 
is not likely that pasture would constitute any great part 
in the feeding for short time tests for seven or thirty days. 

For the concentrates used, we have the following record : 

Times 

Distillers' dried grains 14 

Gluten feed 16 

Wheat bran 22 

Hominy feed 9 

Oil meal 18 

Cottonseed meal 13 

Ground oats 16 

Corn meal 7 

Ground barley 5 

Dried beet pulp 9 

Unicorn dairy feed 1 

Molasses 2 

To the writer, these reports are very interesting and in a 
later paper, it is proposed to give the mixtures used by sev- 
eral of the feeders and breeders who have succeeded in mak- 
ing large records both in short time and in long time tests. 
It will be noticed that in the suggested mixture above those 
feeds are used that are most often found in the rations of the 
more successful feeders except that most of them, 16 out of 
22, like to have ground oats in the mixture. The writer has 
already suggested that it might be better to use ground oats 
in place of a part of the wheat bran and hominy. Corn meal 
is nearly as often used as hominy. Hominy is likely to give 
better satisfaction. Dried beet pulp is used many times and 
is particularly useful when wet up in case one does not have 
mangels or beets. It can be used in place of corn silage. 

Page Fifty -nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

but the times when purebred breeders find themselves with- 
out corn silage and alfalfa hay when testing should be so 
seldom as never to require notice. 

Other Suggestions: Most breeders prefer to keep their 
animals in a cool, very well ventilated stable free from drafts. 
The cows should be blanketed. Very careful handling and 
quiet should prevail at all times. Occasionally an individual 
will be found who will respond to an extra amount of some 
particular feed, such as gluten feed, ground oats, oil meal, 
etc. In case this is known to the feeder, it goes without 
saying that she may receive regularly or from time to time, 
a pound or two of this particular feed, clear, on top of a little 
less amount of the regular test mixture that is being fed to 
other test cows. Attention to little details of comfort and 
individuality will be repaid many times in bigger results on 
the part of the cow being 'fed. 



XV. Feeding Test Cows at Cornell University 

AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY many creditable 
advanced registry tests have been made with several of 
them well above the 30-pound mark. Professor H. H. 
Wing, who has complete charge of the feeding and breeding 
of the Holstein-Friesian herd at Cornell University, can point 
to the development of this herd with pride, and the one cow 
that fully justifies our statement that Professor Wing knows 
how to breed and feed Holstein cows, is Glista Ernestine 

In the feeding and development of this cow, Professor 
Wing has succeeded in getting her to make seven advanced 
registry records of better than 30 pounds. These records 
are showin in table as follows : 

Time of Record Milk Fat Butter 

February, 1913 548.3 lbs. 24.410 lbs. 30.51 lbs. 

September, 1915 625.7 lbs. 24.940 lbs. 31.05 lbs. 

October, 1916 709.7 lbs. 26.660 lbs. 33.33 lbs. 

February, 1918 823.3 lbs. 28.773 lbs. 35.96 lbs. 

February, 1919 815.8 lbs. 27.742 lbs. 34.67 lbs. 

May, 1920 666.5 lbs. 27.390 lbs. 34.23 lbs. 

May, 1921 522.4 lbs. 25.153 lbs. 31.44 lbs. 

No other cow so far as I know, has made seven 30-pound 
records in seven different lactations. 

It is worth while to give in general, the methods used in 
feeding and testing under Professor Wing's direction. The 
best way to summarize the general methods and our ideas of 
good practice is to reprint the article by C. L. Allen which 
was published in the World May 1, 1920, Mr. G. W. 

Page Sixty 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

Tailby, Jr., Mr. C. L. Allen and Mr. James Beiermeister have 
been the young men who have carried out Professor Wing's 
directions for longer periods of time than any others and in 
his article, Mr. Allen has given us a very careful statement of 
good practices. Mr. Allen's article follows : 

"The making of large records of production is looked 
upon by many persons as an art of manipulating the animal 
which can be attained only by a very few men. This is true 
just in so far as it is true that it is an art for a mechanic to 
turn out a maximum amount of work by skillful manipula- 
tion of a delicate machine. On the other hand a man who 
is a careful observer, a good caretaker, and who has had 
sufficient practice, should be able to obtain good results. In 
order to make high records the most skillful feeder must have 
good cows with which to work and a good selection of 
superior feed for their consumption." 

FITTING COWS FOR TEST 

The universal practice in preparation for short time rec- 
ords and a quite general practice in preparation for long- 
time records is to fit the cows for the test. Bv fitting is 
meant the conditioning of the animal by rest and fattening 
so that she will be able to produce at a maximum by using 
her stored up energy for milk production. Another aim is 
to have the cow strong and healthy at calving time. In mak- 
ing short-time records it is customary to have the animal 
very fat. It is expected that fat cows will for a short time 
test higher than cows thin in flesh and thus make a higher 
butterfat record. Perhaps half of the animals fail to respond 
to this treatment, however. In any case fitting seems to aid 
production and high producers usually tend to become thin 
in flesh soon after they begin their lactation period. Thus 
it would seem that fitting aids the long-time record as well 
as the short-time record although probably to a lesser extent. 

In fitting, the cows are usually dried off three or four 
months before calving and are fed a very liberal ration. 
The ration should consist of some good grain mixture 
together with pasture or hay and silage. It is quite common 
to feed a small amount of beet pulp also. Three to four 
pounds of dry beet pulp moistened with three to four times 
its weight of water would be a usual amount. The beet 
pulp helps to keep the cows in a laxative and generally good 
condition. Beets are just as valuable for this purpose but 
they are rarely fed because few men have a very large quan- 
tity of beets and they would rather feed them when the cows 
are on test. 
Page Sixty-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

The amount of grain mixture fed will vary with the size 
and condition of the animal. At this time, cows will eat 
from ten to twenty-four pounds each day. The grain mixture 
is usually light, palatable, and not very high in protein. Such 
a grain mixture which has been widely used with good results 
follows : 

Fitting ration: 

100 pounds wheat bran 

100 pounds ground oats 

100 pounds hominy 

100 pounds linseed oilmeal (old process) 

Many feeders have used cornmeal instead of the hominy 
in the ration with good results. The cornmeal, if used, should 
be fed with care or discarded entirely just before calving time. 

One very important factor which is often overlooked not 
only in fitting but in the general care of animals, is the water 
supply. The cow should have free access at all times to all 
the good, clean water she will drink. If this is impossible 
she should be watered at least three or four times daily and 
should at no time be compelled to drink very cold water. 

The question arises as to the danger of udder troubles, 
difficult parturition and milk fever due to the animal's being 
fat. If the cow is kept laxative but little fear need 
be entertained from the first two causes and rarely from the 
third. Cows can usually be kept in a laxative condition by 
the use of linseed oilmeal and succulent foods. It may be 
necessary in rare cases to use a purgative, especially if suc- 
culent foods are not available. 

CARE AT CALVING TIME 

A week or ten days before the cow is due to freshen, the 
grain ration should be reduced and she should be placed in 
dry, well ventilated quarters. If she is to occupy a box stall 
during the test she should be placed there at this time. Cows 
are usually kept in box stalls while making short-time rec- 
ords but this is not so commonly done for long-time records. 

As the cow approaches calving time she should be care- 
fully watched. It is particularly necessary at this time that 
she have plenty of water and be kept laxative. No fear need 
be entertained for swollen and caked udders so long as these 
conditions prevail and so long as the udder does not contain 
hard feverish spots. 

If such hard feverish spots do occur they should be 
reduced by rubbing with warm water. Grease may be 
applied to keep the udder from irritation while it is being 
massaged. Patent preparations may be obtained for this 

Page Sixty-two 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

purpose and many of them are good but it should be remem- 
bered that the massage is the valuable part of the treatment 
and not the grease. Caked and swollen udders are not 
usually dangerous so long as all the quarters milk freely. 

Milk fever is a disease which often affects the best cows 
after calving. Formerly there were many fatalities due to 
milk fever but the modern method of treatment, by distend- 
ing the udder with air, has practically eliminated loss from 
this cause. It is commonly thought that milk fever mav be 
avoided by leaving the udder distended with milk for two or 
three days after calving, when the danger from milk fever 
is usually over. It is best, however, to milk the cow a little 
at frequent intervals, two or three times daily, during this 
time in order to be sure that all the quarters are milking 
freely. 

A common mistake is to try to feed the cow too much 
just after calving. She should be fed light laxative foods 
for three or four days and these in limited amounts. After 
three or four days, if she has a good appetite, the ration 
may be increased rather quickly to the amount she was 
receiving before calving. 

FEEDING FOR SHORT-TIME RECORDS 

The majority of short-time records are made in cool 
weather, approximately between the first of October and the 
first of May. There are several reasons for this. Farmers 
are usually not so busy with crops during this period and 
more time is spent with the cows. The most important fac- 
tor however is the cool weather. An animal is able to eat 
much larger amounts of concentrated food during cool 
weather, and, therefore, will usually make a much higher 
record. 

In making short-time records it is customary to start the 
cow on test just as soon as possible after calving. Cows 
form habits very readily and so it is best to start them at the 
beginning just they are to be handled during the test. Dur- 
ing most short-time records cows are milked four times daily. 
It is best to begin this practice just as soon after calving as 
it is advisable to begin milking regularly. This is even more 
important with the feeding than it is with the milking. 
Experience has shown that it takes most cows nearly a week 
to become adjusted to a change from three times a day to 
four times a day for feeding and milking, and as a result the 
cows are placed at a great disadvantage. 

Cows on short-time test are fed all they will eat. Most 
feeders give as much grain as possible without making the 

Page Sixty-three 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

animal. sick. It is quite common to feed as much as twenty- 
five to thirty pounds of grain daily and much greater amounts 
are often fed. It is best, however, to proceed very carefully 
with all amounts in excess of twenty pounds each day. Cows 
that are fat from fitting will usually not eat so much grain as 
a cow that is thin in flesh. It is best to raise the grain ration 
not more than from one to two pounds daily and then wait a 
day or so to observe the results. It is useless to increase 
the amount of grain if the animals fails to respond with an 
increase in milk or butterfat production. 

Warm days during the testing period cause considerable 
annoyance because the cows are not able to eat so much and 
are more likely to go off feed. To avoid such trouble one 
can often use a lighter ration instead of feeding a smaller 
amount. The mixture used for fitting is a good one for this 
purpose and the cow will generally appreciate the change. 
In practice it is often advisable to give the cows a little 
change in the grain mixture for one or two feedings, espe- 
cially if the test runs for a couple of weeks or longer. 
GRAIN MIXTURES FOR TESTING 

The question of grain mixtures has always been much dis- 
cussed and many feeders have been very exact as to the 
amounts of the different grains used. There are so many 
different mixtures used by successful feeders and they vary 
so widely that it would appear that the exact composition is 
not so important as many people suppose. From a study of 
a number of mixtures used by successful men it would seem 
that, if six or seven different grains were mixed together in 
equal proportions, the resulting mixture would be as good 
as any. About one-half the grain mixture should be derived 
from high-protein foods and the mixture should weigh about 
one pound to the quart. The grains most commonly found 
in grain mixtures are wheat bran, ground oats, linseed oil- 
meal (old process), cottonseed meal, hominy, gluten feed, and 
dried distillers' grains. Many feeders prefer to put salt in 
the grain mixture. If this is not done the cow should be 
fed salt regularly or have it continually before her. 

The following mixtures have been used with good results : 
Mixture 1 
200 pounds distillers' dried grains 
200 pounds wheat bran 
100 pounds gluten feed 
100 pounds ground oats 
200 pounds hominy 
100 pounds linseed oilmeal (old process) 

12 pounds salt 

12 pounds charcoal 

Page Sixty-four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

Mixture 2 

200 pounds distillers' dried grains 
200 pounds wheat bran 
125 pounds ground oats 
125 pounds gluten feed 
100 pounds cottonseed meal 

80 pounds oilmeal (old process) 

15 pounds' salt 

In the future, distillers' dried grains are likely to be very 
scarce and difficult to obtain. Such a deficiency may be 
overcome by increasing the wheat bran and gluten feed pro- 
portionally. Ground barley may also often be used to advan- 
tage in place of one-half the ground oats. No ration or 
grain mixture can be prescribed to meet all cases. It is 
desirable to cater to the likes and dislikes of the individual 
animal. This may call for wide departure from formulas 
ordinarily used. 

In order to feed large amounts of grain with safety, it 
is necessary to feed roots of some sort. Beets or mangels 
are the roots chosen whenever it is possible to obtain them ; 
the large mangels are perhaps as valuable as any. Beet pulp 
is used to supplement the beets at times, and in case beets or 
mangels cannot be obtained, it may be used entirely as a 
substitute. For best results the amount of beets fed seems 
to bear an almost constant proportion to the amount of 
grain. The proportion should be about three pounds of 
beets to one pound of grain. If beet pulp is used the pro- 
portion should be about one-half pound of dry beet pulp to 
one pound of grain. The dry beet pulp is moistened with 
three to four times its weight of water. Molasses is some- 
times used to make the beet pulp more palatable. It is used 
in the proportion of about one-half pint to eight or ten pounds 
of dry beet pulp. 

One of the most important factors in the ration of cows 
on test is the quality of roughage. It is commonly thought 
that poor roughage can be made up for by feeding more 
grain but this is not the case. The best results can be 
obtained only when the best quality of clover or alfalfa hay is 
fed. Alfalfa hay is preferable to any other. 

Silage is usually fed rather sparingly to cows making 
short-time records unless some particular individual has a 
special craving for it. Succulence is usually provided for 
with beets or beet pulp and, if very much silage is fed, the 
animals are not able to eat nearly as much grain. If silage 
is fed, care should be exercised to feed only that which is 
good and sweet. 
Page Sixty -five 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

FEEDING FOR LONG-TIME RECORDS 

In feeding for long-time records the methods are much 
the same as those practiced for the short-time records except 
that the cows are not forced quite so much, and are usually 
milked and fed not more than three times each day and often 
only twice. As was suggested for the short-time records, 
the cows should be fed a liberal amount of good grain mix- 
ture supplemented by good roughage. As in the case of the 
short-time record it pays to respect the likes and dislikes of 
the animal for certain kinds of food. The grain mixtures 
are much the same as those already mentioned. 

The question of good roughage cannot be too strongly 
emphasized in feeding for long-time records. Roughage is 
the most important factor in maintaining a large milk flow, 
which can be increased in most cases by feeding better and 
more succulent roughage but which cannot be materially 
increased, as a rule, by increasing the grain ration. This is 
especially true when the cows have been milking three or 
four months. Because of the scarcity and the cost beets 
are not used extensively in feeding for long-time records but 
corn silage usually makes up the succulent part of the ration 
and it may be fed in rather large quantities with profit. 

In changing from stable feeding to pasture in the spring 
it is well to keep in mind that the grass early in the season is 
not very nourishing, especially if the weather is very wet. 
The change should be gradual in any case and the cows 
should still have all the hay and silage they will eat for a 
week or more after being turned out to pasture. 

As the season advances another problem confronts the 
feeder. The poor pastures of late July, August and Septem- 
ber must be supplemented if the best results are to be 
obtained. Grain alone is not sufficient but some good rough- 
age in the form of corn silage, green corn, or oats and peas 
should be used. 

Good water is always such a necessary and often such a 
neglected requirement for the dairy cow that it seems worth 
while to mention it again. Whether in the pasture or stable, 
good water should be where the cow can have an abundant 
supply at all times without expending a great amount of 
energy to obtain it. 

The best results can not be obtained without heeding the 
well-known fact that regularity of milking and feeding is an 
important factor affecting production. Not only should the 
milking and feeding be done regularly but the intervals' 
between milkings should be as nearly uniform as possible. 

Page Sixty -six 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

Warm weather is a disturbing factor in long-time as 
well as in short-time records. It cannot be avoided in the 
long-time records and the best that can be done is to keep 
the cows as comfortable as possible. There should be plenty 
of shade where they can get out of the hot sun and away 
from flies. Anything that can be done to relieve the cows 
from flies will bring ample reward. There are many useful 
spray materials on the market that can be used to good 
advantage." 

In addition to the above general statements of Mr. Allen, 
I wish to add the specific treatment of Glista Ernestine dur- 
ing the record that she made in the year 1920. We will begin 
with a summary of her feeding during the lactation period 
previous to her 1920 record. 

In 1919, Glista Ernestine calved February 15. This last 
lactation ended the middle of January, 1920, and she calved 
again April 21, 1920. The rest period between was four- 
teen weeks. In this last lactation period Ernestine pro- 
duced 22,854.6 pounds of milk containing 791.04 pounds of 
butterfat. 

HER FEED 

During this lactation period Ernestine ate the following 
amount of feed : 

3860 pounds hay 

8810 pounds silage 

1425 pounds roots 

3459 pounds dried beet pulp 

7322 pounds grain 

If we divide the amount of milk by the amount of grain 
we will find that she used her grain just as most cows do. 
She gave an average of 3.1 pounds of milk for each pound of 
grain that she ate. It might be said that the beet pulp should 
be considered as grain. I do not think it should in this case, 
if ever, because Glista Ernestine ate sparingly of silage and 
the silage was restricted all the way through, the beet pulp 
being soaked and used as succulence in its place. It seems 
to be better to restrict the amount of silage with test cows 
and use more roots and beet pulp in its place. 

The great saving of feed in this case, as with all big pro- 
ducers is the saving of maintenance. The amount of feed 
necessary for maintenance is in proportion to live weight. 
Therefore, only one-half as much feed is necessary for the 
maintenance of the machinery when 20,000 pounds of milk 
is produced by one cow than if two cows have to be sup- 
ported over a period of twelve months to produce 10,000 
pounds of milk each. 

Page Sixty-seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

FEEDING WHEN DRY 

After Ernestine went dry the middle of January, 1920, 
she was fed about twenty pounds of grain per day until about 
two weeks before calving. For a part of the time this mix- 
ture was used : 

30 pounds ground oats 

30 pounds corn meal 

30 pounds wheat bran 

10 pounds oil meal 

Then as the calving time approached and it was desired to 
put on what is called the "soft fat" and to get her ready for 
calving the mixture was changed to equal parts by weight 
of wheat bran, corn meal and oil meal. All during this dry 
period Ernestine got about fifteen pounds of hay per day and 
six to eight pounds of dried beet pulp soaked, but was fed 
no silage. 

On April 5, 1920, her grain was cut down to ten pounds 
per day because her feeder wished to be very careful of her 
and not overdo it. 

FEEDING AT CALVING TIME 

Glista Ernestine calved last year April 21. For some 
unknown reason she had a two-day session of acute indiges- 
tion of which she gave no previous indication and from which 
she fully recovered. However, this short attack of indiges- 
tion meant very careful handling. About all the grain she 
got for several days was a little bran and oil meal. For 
several days the total amount of grain did not exceed five 
pounds per day and the light fitting mixture of oats, bran, 
corn meal and oil meal, the first one given above, was used. 
By April 30 she was gotten up to twelve pounds of grain per 
day, ten pounds of hay, and eight pounds of dried beet pulp. 
During these first days after calving she averaged about fifty 
to sixty pounds of milk per day. 

FEEDING ON TEST 

By May 1 Glista Ernestine seemed to have gotten back 
to her old form and was going well. She was continued on 
the light mixture, however, until May 5. For example, her 
regular daily ration from May 1 to May 5 was sixteen pounds 
of the light grain mixture, eight pounds of beet pulp, twenty 
pounds of beets and ten pounds of alfalfa hay. 

Her feeder now thought it safe to begin feeding a little 
heavier so he changed May 6 to the regular test mixture. 
You will see that there had been no great hurry in getting 
Glista Ernestine up to her record pace. She has always been 
this way. Her best records have been made as a rule several 
weeks after calving, which shows that it is not necessary to 

Page Sixty-eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

have a cow start right off with a bang. It is probably bette* 
in most cases to let them take their time and bring them up 
gradually. 

THE TEST MIXTURE 

The test mixture used for making records at Cornell 

University has been practically the same for several seasons. 

The exact mixture fed Glista Ernestine was : 
100 pounds distillers' dried grains 
100 pounds wheat bran 
100 pounds hominy 

50 pounds gluten feed 

50 pounds oil meal 

50 pounds ground oats 
100 pounds cottonseed meal 

10 pounds charcoal 
6 pounds salt 

It is difficult to get the distillers' dried grains nowadays, 
but in order to keep the ration that was wanted the College 
of Agriculture purchased two or three years ago several tons 
of distillers' dried grains before they went off the market and 
have kept them laid up just for advanced registry feeding. 
In case one cannot get distillers' dried grains, this mixture 
would probably be nearly as effective with the addition of 
twenty-five pounds of bran, fifty pounds of gluten feed and 
twenty-five pounds of oil meal in place of the one hundred 
pounds of distillers' dried grains. 

When Ernestine was changed from the light fitting 
ration to the test ration her feed was cut down a little so that 
from May 6 to May io she was receiving daily twelve pounds 
of the test mixture, six pounds of dried beet pulp, twenty 
pounds of beets and ten pounds of clover hay. Her hay was 
changed from alfalfa to clover because the alfalfa hay seemed 
to be a little too strong for her. On May io the amount of 
test ration was increased to twenty pounds per day, the rest 
of the ration was made up of ten pounds of beet pulp, fifty 
pounds of beets, ten pounds of silage and ten pounds of 
alfalfa and clover hay. This has been the mixture fed ever 
since with the exception that beginning with May 20, sixty 
pounds per day of green rye was added to the ration. 

To show just how the ration was fed daily, the ration was 
divided into four parts. Ernestine was milked at 5 and 11, 
being milked four times a day. She was fed at each milking 
five pounds of the test ration, two and one-half pounds of 
dried beet pulp soaked up and twelve and one-half pounds of 
beets. The beet pulp and the beets were put into a bushel 
bucket and the grain poured on top. Then at 5 a. m. and 
5 p. m. she was given five pounds of silage, but she received 
no silage at the 1 1 o'clock milkings. As her feeder said, this 
Page Sixty -nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

little bit of silage was given after the 5 o'clock milkings 
simply to leave a good taste in her mouth. The hay was 
carefully picked out .so as to get first quality and a little bit 
put into her manger after she had finished her grain and 
silage, so that she could eat what she wanted between 
milkings. The green rye was fed in the same way. 

This has given us detail enough — all that is necessary to 
say is that this sort of handling in feeding gradually increased 
the production and on May 24 the milk produced reached 
one hundred pounds a day. The average production for the 
record week, May 19 to May 26, was a little over ninety-five 
pounds per day. The fat production was 27.379 pounds of 
fat, or 34.224 pounds of butter. During this record week the 
total amount of grain fed was one hundred and forty pounds 
and the total amount of milk was 677.3 pounds. It will be 
noticed that Ernestine was producing 4.8 pounds of milk, 
testing 4.04 per cent butterfat, for each pound of grain fed. 
As we have said before, cows are ordinarily fed one pound of 
grain to three pounds of milk when the milk tests 4 per cent. 
This shows conclusively the answer to the question, whether 
it pays to feed cows well when dry. Ernestine was then in 
that record week using some of the feed that she received 
when dry. 

This article has been written considerably in detail, 
because of the opportunity to write out exactly how a world's 
record cow is fed and handled. 

Finally, we would call attention to this wonderful per- 
formance as indicating the tremendous value of a purebred 
sire, and call attention to the fact that after all, the one 
responsible factor in this whole question is the capacity that 
Ernestine and cows of her kind have for the utilization of 
feed above maintenance. We cannot fool with little cows of 
small production and small capacity in any breed, because 
too much feed is eaten up in merely running a lot of useless 
machinery. 



XVI. The Rations Fed Some Famous Cows 

THIS series of articles has been written largely for the 
young breeder and feeder who is just starting in the 
business. It is the wish of the writer to be of service 
to as many as possible on the question of feeding; to bring 
to many the experience of others on feeding questions. This 
article then will give, as far as we can, the actual feed mix- 
tures used, the amount fed, and other things of that nature 

Page Seventy 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
with some of the high record cows of the Holstein-Friesian 
breed. To get the data for the article a letter was sent to 
the owners or feeders of the highest seven-day record cows 
and the highest semi-official record cows. The answers to 
this letter have been very satisfactory, and the writer wishes 
to thank these men personally who have co-operated in the 
preparation of this article. 

Young feeders and breeders like to know what the most 
successful feeders in the breed have used in getting the 
wonderful records that are now being made. It is a great 
source of satisfaction that the successful feeders and owners 
are so ready to tell us just the manner in which it has been 
accomplished. 

THE FEEDS USED 

First of all it seems best to list all the feeds used in the 
feeding of the cows here considered with the number of times 
each is found among the rations. This will tell us the most 
popular feeds. 
Concentrates : 

Ground oats 6 times 

Wheat bran 6 " 

Wheat middlings 1 " 

Gluten feed 4 

Gluten meal .1 " 

Distillers' dried grains 6 " 

Cottonseed meal 3 " 

White Cross feed 1 " 

Linseed oil meal 3 " 

Brewers' dried grains 2 " 

Hominy 3 

Malt sprouts - 1 

Ground barley 1 

Dried beet pulp • 1 

Molasses 1 

Below are given the roughages used in the six rations 

considered : 
Roughages : 

Corn silage 5 times 

Alfalfa hay 5 

Clover hay • 1 

Roots 5 

Green crops • 2 

Pasture • 2 

Timothy hay * 

It is noted that the most important concentrates used for 
this purpose are ground oats, wheat bran, distillers' grains, 
gluten feed, oil meal, hominy and cottonseed meal. Alfalfa 
hay, corn silage and beets are the most important roughages. 
The rations shown here and given in previous articles should 
teach convincingly that it is unnecessary to go outside this 
list for feeds and that nothing is gained by doing so. It is 

Page Seventy-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

time that the idea that large records are being made with 
secret formulae should be driven out of the heads of our 
breeders. It- is foolish to think that secret formulae and 
drugs are necessary to produce these records. Our breed- 
ers must get to work and learn the arts of breeding and skill- 
ful feeding and forget all this foolishness about drugs and 
secret formulae. If you have the cow that is capable of 
doing it through her inheritance and if you have the skill to 
feed her and care for her, the above list of feeds is all that is 
necessary. 

FEEDING FOR SHORT-TIME TESTS 

We have received replies to our letter from several of the 
feeders of cows making creditable short time records. From 
these letters I have selected the statements of feeding of 
Tietje Queen Kol 2nd, Glen Alex Queen De Kol, Glen Alex 
Queen De Kol 3rd, and Bess Johanna Ormsby. A state- 
ment of the feeding of these cows will give us a good idea of 
the general practices in the feeding of high record cows. 
Tietje Queen De Kol 2nd 

The best thing to do in connection with this cow is to 
quote the following from a letter from Mr. A. C. Howe : 

"Tietje Queen De Kol 2nd was born May 11, 1913, and 
freshened at the age of 2 years six months and twenty-three 
days making 16.793 pounds butter and 393.8 pounds milk. 
"At three years, eight months and five days she made 
31,068 pounds butter and 494.6 pounds milk after giving birth 
to twin calves, both being as large as the usual calf. At four 
years, ten months and twenty-six days she did even better 
making the very creditable showing of 43.29 pounds butter 
and 639.3 pounds milk. 

"While being fitted she had all the alfalfa hay she wanted 
and some beet pulp moistened with molasses together with 
the following fitting ration : 
200 pounds bran 
100 pounds cottonseed 
200 pounds ground oats 
50 pounds ajax 
150 pounds hominy 
100 pounds oil meal 

"While on test this cow had ensilage morning and night 
and beets at noon and midnight, some alfalfa hay and the 
following milking ration ; 
50 pounds ajax 
20 pounds oil meal 
50 pounds bran 
4 pounds salt 
30 pounds ground oats 
2 pounds charcoal 
30 pounds gluten 

Page Seventy-two 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
"This cow is an exceptionally large and vigorous animal 
and never seemed to have enough either when on test or at 
any time in her life being always up and looking anxiously at 
the feed door whenever any one started feeding. She never 
went off feed and we have always thought her a fine candi- 
date for a long time test but up to the present time we have 
never been in a position to give her an opportunity. Another 
thing which might be well to mention is that we have the 
individual drinking cups and this cow had access to all the 
spring water she wanted and whenever she wanted it except 
directly following calving." 
Glen Alex Queen De Kol 

Glen Alex Queen De Kol also made her best record of 
42.35 pounds of butter at Mr. A. C. Howe's farm. She is at 
present owned at Hollywood Farm, Hollywood, Washing- 
ton. Mr. H. C. Stimson sends me this account of her feed- 
ing which he received from Mr. Howe : 

"Glen Alex Queen De Kol was born April 9th, 1914. At 
2 years, 1 1 months, 20 days, she made the following record 
having calved (second calf) March 29, 1917: Milk, 603.8; 
butter, 42.36; best day's milk 91.7. Previous to this test she 
was fed 200 pounds bran, 200 pounds ground oats, 150 
pounds hominy, 100 pounds cottonseed meal, 50 pounds Ajax, 
100 pounds oil meal, beet pulp soaked in water and molasses, 
5 to 10 pounds daily, about 20 to 30 pounds silage" and 10 to 
15 pounds alfalfa. Two weeks before freshening the Ajax 
and cottonseed were omitted. After freshening, she was fed 
50 pounds Ajax, 50 pounds bran, 30 pounds ground oats, 30 
pounds gluten, 20 pounds oil meal, 4 pounds salt, 2 pounds 
charcoal. Cottonseed meal was added from time to time, 
10 to 15 pounds beet pulp per day, 20 to 40 pounds silage, 
and 10 to 20 pounds alfalfa hay. 

"She has made three 30-pound records since we purchased 
her. She will weigh above 1800 pounds and if confined will 
develop a tremendous appetite. We have fed her over 40 
pounds of grain without the least apparent harm. When 
released from small quarters this appetite or craving for 
grain disappears considerably. In all other respects she is 
absolutely normal, and is an extremely profitable year round 
producer." 
Glen Alex Queen De Kol, 3rd 

The best way to give us the data on the feeding of 
some of the best cows at Avondale Farm is to quote directly 
the letter of Mr. H. Flynn. Mr. Flynn's letter follows : 

Page Seventy-three 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

"Yours of recent date to Mr. Hardy has been handed to 
me for reply regarding the feeding and management of the 
cows, 'Glen Alex Queen De Kol 3rd,' and as Mr. Hardy in 
his reply to you, mentioned our other cow or rather heifer, 
namely, 'Lady Waldorf Sylvia,' this, heifer having the honor 
of holding the world's record for 305 days after having made 
over 28 pounds butter in 7 days at 2 years, 7 months. Name 
and number of first heifer is Glen Alex Queen De Kol 3rd, 
number 382579, born March 23, 1917, and the second heifer is 
Lady Waldorf Sylvia, number 399694, born March 23, 191 7. 
Glen Alex Queen De Kol 3rd freshened December 2, 1919. 
and at that time started in and made the world's records for 
seven and thirty days for heifer with first calf. Lady Wal- 
dorf Sylvia heifer freshened November 20, 1919, and started 
in making her great record. Now both of these heifers were 
born the same day and both weighed almost alike at time of 
freshening. They both weighed a little over 1650 pounds. 
Both were fitted with same ration and both fed same ration 
while being tested. Fitting ration was composed of bran, 
200 pounds; hominy, 100 pounds; ground oats, 100 pounds;, 
and oil meal, 100 pounds. Both heifers ran on grass until 
in October but were brought in daily for about three 
months, and fed the above ration together with whatever 
silage the)^ would eat which was not very large on account 
of eating a certain amount of grass. About three weeks 
before freshening each got at least one feed of roots a day. 
When grass was done they had all the clover hay they wished 
to clean up. Both freshened in fine condition and started 
in making their records. The first two days after freshening 
they both had a light ration of bran and oil meal. Third day 
starting in on test ration, being fed 8 pounds a day to start 
on, increasing gradually. Test ration composed of distillers' 
grains 336 pounds, bran 207 pounds, ground oats 156 pounds, 
gluten feed 142 pounds, hominy 114 pounds, oil meal 50 
pounds, salt 10 pounds, charcoal 10 pounds. This ration was 
fed four times daily, roots also four times, silage three times, 
omitting the midnight feed. This was good corn silage, of 
course, also fed good alfalfa hay twice daily, morning and 
evening. This I think constitutes the feed fed to produce 
both world's records. You mention in your letter about 
'Walnutcrest Rag Apple Buttercup.' The record this heifer 
made at two years old of course was not a world's record 
although she won first prize association money a year ago 
making over 28 pounds. Her number is 428001 and born 
January 28, 1918, and freshened March 16, 1920, and was 

Page Seventy-four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

fitted with same ration as the other heifers. Also fed same test 
ration only in a much smaller quantity. The roughage also 
was made up of same material. Hope this will help you out 
on your book of 'Feeding Dairy Cattle.' " 
Bess Johanna Ormsby 

Mr. J. R. Danks, superintendent of cattle department at 
the Winterthur Farms has written me statement of the feed- 
ing of Bess Johanna Ormsby, when she made her last 7-day 
record, from February 22 to March 1, 192 1. Mr. Dank's 
letter follows : 

"The record was: 30.536 pounds of butterfat; 650.4 
pounds of milk. 

"Her daily ration was as follows : 

"Six pounds ration No. 7, 6 pounds ration No. 8, 2 pounds 
ground oats, iy 2 pounds oil meal, 16 pounds silage, 25 pounds 
alfalfa hay, 5 pounds beet pulp, 26 pounds mangels. 

"Ration No. 7 is composed of : 300 pounds bran, 300 
pounds oats, 100 pounds hominy, 100 pounds, oil meal, 100 
pounds distillers, 50 pounds gluten. 

"Ration No. 8 is composed of: 200 pounds ground oats, 
200 pounds bran, 200 pounds distillers, 200 pounds oil meal, 
50 pounds cottonseed. This cow was fed one quarter of her 
daily ration at 4:30 a. m., and milked while she was eating. 
This was done again at 10 :30 a. m., 4 :30 p. m., and 10 :30 p. m. 

"At 7 :30 a. m. she was turned in the paddock for exercise 
for about one hour. During the balance of the time she was 
kept in a good roomy box stall equipped with watering 
device. She was given about all the grain she would eat with 
relish. 

"This cow has, of course, made two previous 7-day 
records but, as they were made quite some time ago, I am 
not sure about the feed and management, therefore, I am 
giving you her latest record. As I understand it, you are 
not interested in her semi-official record. 

"The amount of grain, also the roughage, varied slightly 
from day to day but the various kinds of grain fed remained 
the same throughout the test." 

Many other letters could be quoted on the subject of 
feeding cows for 7-day tests, but these letters that have been 
given will give us what we want very fully, and it seems 
unnecessary to quote more. 

FEEDING COWS IN THE YEARLY DIVISION 

It is with much pleasure that I am able to lead off the 
discussion of feeding cows for the yearly advanced registry 
Page Seventy-five 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

records by quoting the statements with reference to the feed- 
ing of Bella Pontiac. This statement of her feeding 
appeared first in the World for June 25, 1921, when it was 
written up by Mr. M. S. Prescott. For the sake of making 
the book complete it is worth while to reprint a part of it 
here. 

"Completing her 4-year-old record on March 24, she 
freshened again June 19, having been dry about six weeks. 
She started out very easily on a light feed of wheat bran 
and oil meal with green alfalfa for roughage. About the 
first of July green mangels with the tops on were given her 
fresh from the field to the extent of about a bushel and a 
half a day and she has shown great fondness for these roots 
throughout the test. As soon as she settled down to work 
she was put on to a ration consisting of: 2 pounds bran, 6 
pounds oil cake, 1 pound gluten, 2 pounds crushed oats with 
a maximum of 12 pounds cottonseed meal. Of this ration 
she ate from thirty to thirty-three pounds a day up to as high 
as 37 pounds a day at the highest. With this grain ration 
she took from 60 to 70 pounds of roots, 25 pounds silage 
and all of the alfalfa hay she wanted. About the fifth of 
April the supply of silage was exhausted and quite a radical 
change was made in the whole ration. The roots were 
increased to about 150 pounds a day, the cottonseed meal was 
cut out entirely as she appeared to be getting tired of it and 
and the oil cake reduced to half so that the ration she fin- 
ished her year on is just a mixture of 2 pounds bran, 2 
pounds crushed oats, 1 pound oil cake, 1 pound cream of 
wheat. Each feeding is weighed out separately with one- 
quarter of a pound of salt and a handful of charcoal in each 
feeding. The grain is given before milking and after that 
is cleaned up the roots are fed and the alfalfa hay is placed 
in the manger and two pounds more crushed oats is given 
on the roots making a total of eight pounds of grain per 
feeding, or 32 pounds a day. A tub of drinking water stands 
in one corner of the stall where it is accessible at all times. 
This is washed out and fresh water put in every day. She is 
having no green feed whatever this spring or summer and 
the changes in her ration have been made in an effort to give 
her what she particularly likes the best. Throughout the 
year she has occupied a light roomy box stall and has been 
out only to be led occasionally for exercise. This has not 
been given regularly as Mr. Barron in addition to looking 
after this cow and the rest of the herd has had all the work 
of a seventy-acre farm to attend to himself. Practically all 

Page Seventy-six 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

of the care of the new champion must be credited to Mr. 
Barron, although during the Canadian National Sale where 
he sold a few head, Mrs. Barron looked after the milking. 
Mr. Wilson, the supervisor, also milked her about a week 
when Mr. Barron was ill. We mention these facts here as 
added testimony to the honesty of the record. It was 
impossible to get a tester at the beginning of her present 
year's work but she milked up to nearly ioo pounds and seven 
months after calving made a seven-day record of 33.02 pounds 
of butter and the week preceding our visit which was the 
fifty-first week of her year she made under strictly official 
test 28.05 pounds butter and 487.5 pounds milk showing an 
average test of 4.6 per cent fat. In the thirty days from 
May 14 to June 12 which figured the thirty days preceding 
the date of our visit she made 106.03 pounds butter which 
indicates the evenness of her performance throughout the 
year. She has not been bred, but comes in heat regularly 
and appears perfectly normal in every respect. 

"There is a wonderful object lesson in this story of Tom 
Barron and Bella Pontiac for it shows how the highest suc- 
cess with Holsteins can be won without large capital and 
with modest buildings, by applying intelligent and painstak- 
ing effort to the care of the right kind of a Holstein cow. 
The barn in which the new champion spent her year would 
hardly measure up to the average dairy barn in Canada or 
the dairy sections of the United States. The man who 
milked and fed her and looked after her wants also looked 
after the rest of the herd and did the farm work besides, but 
let nothing stand in the way of giving Bella Pontiac the best 
chance he knew how. When it was apparent that there was 
chance for her to at least break the Canadian record he sold 
the most of his milking cows including the 36-pound Dora 
Fayne Posch that was the sensation of the Canadian National 
Sale last spring, reducing his milking herd to three head. 

"He studied his cow so closely that although she has eaten 
about 30 pounds of grain a day the greater part of the year 
she has never been off feed, although coming close to it once 
or twice, and several radical changes in the composition of 
her grain rations were necessary. A less close observer 
would have continued the gluten which she never liked and 
the cottonseed meal which she tired of, when about nine or 
ten months along with her record. As a reward for his 
efforts, Mr. Barron has made his original investment increase 
one hundred fold or more ; he has a World's Champion cow 
over all breeds and for the period most keenly contested for, 

Page Seventy-seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

and he has in addition two beautiiful daughters of that 
World's Champion, one a yearling and the other just past 
two years of age. 

In the story lies most effective ammunition for Holstein 
extension work, because who of us in the business upon 
reading the story of Tom Barron and Bella Pontiac will not 
go on with our work with just a little more zest and give our 
own good cows just a little better chance to show what they 
will do?" 

The record of the feeding of Bella Pontiac is particularly 
interesting because of the unusual amount of high protein 
feeds that were fed in the first part of the year's work. This 
goes to show very conclusively that there must be very little 
in the idea of secret formulae and that after all it is the 
capacity of the cow that determines the record and that a 
cow has tremendous capacity for adapting herself to the 
ration as she may get, provided she gets good care and 
enough feed from which to manufaceure the milk. 
Duchess Skylark Ormsby 

Duchess Skylark Ormsby made her great record some 
time ago but she still stands second in the list, therefore, it is 
well to say something about her feeding. Mr. John B. Irwin 
has written fully and carefully on this point and I take 
pleasure in quoting his letter : 

"Your favor of July nth regarding information concern- 
ing the grain mixture for Duchess Skylark Ormsby is at hand, 
and I may state that she was quite remarkable in her food 
consumption in that she was not affected seriously by change 
of feed and the different ingredients of her ration were 
changed in amount quite frequently so as to adapt them to 
her appetite and the condition of the weather. Possibly if I 
give you the amount of feed she consumed in three different 
months it will give you a pretty good line on the feeds we 
used. For instance she calved early in November. She 
consumed the following feed in the month of: 

December May September 

lbs. . lbs. lbs. 

124 bran 125 bran 120 bran 

124 ground oats 120 ground oats 120 ground oats 

93 continental gluten 100 continental gluten 90 continental gluten 

124 brewers' dried grain 125 brewers' grains 125 brewers' grains 

77 oil meal 90 oil meal 75 oil meal 

75 hominy 45 hominy 60 hominy 

868 silage 900 silage 3000 silage, green 

oats and peas 
455 alfalfa 475 alfalfa 450 alfalfa 

930 roots 950 roots 1000 roots 

Page Seventy-eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

She was fed and milked four times per day throughout the 
year, was kept in a good sized box stall, led out nearly every 
day for exercise but was not in pasture at all since we had 
a very hot summer and we preferred to keep track of her feed 
and keep her away from the flies as much as possible in the 
barn. She was bred in July and once after that during the 
test but failed to get with calf from the first service. She 
dropped a splendid matured calf just shortly before her death 
but we were unfortunate in losing the calf." 

Miss Valley Mead De Kol and Miss Aaggie Acme Burke 

These two young cows have been fed out by A. W. 
Morris & Sons. Mr. F. L. Morris has written the following 
concise letter which gives us a very definite idea of how 
they handle these wonderful cows in California. Again this 
letter shows that the feeding and handling is not complicated, 
provided you have the correct type of cows and have good 
men to handle them. 

"Miss Valley Mead De Kol and Miss Aaggie Acme 
Burke were kept in box stalls at night and during the stormy 
winter weather, however, they were outside part of every- 
day, and when the weather permitted, ran at pasture, possi- 
bly during nine months of the year. After the morning 
milking they were allowed to pasture for four hours, and 
also for an equal time in the afternoon. The pasture con- 
sisted of alfalfa and our native grasses which are green dur- 
ing three or four months in the spring. 

"Our grain mixture consists of ground barley, oats and 
bran in about equal parts. This' is supplemented by linseed 
oil meal, cocoanut meal, cottonseed meal and soy bean meal, 
varying in amounts according to the requirements of the 
different animals. We feed at all times either corn ensilage, 
dried beet pulp or fresh beets when in season. The cows are 
given what alfalfa hay they will clean up at all times. 

"This is about all that can be said in connection with the 
handling of our cows in yearly test, and we trust that it may 
be of some use in the article you are preparing." 
Rose De Kol Wayne Butter Boy 

The record of this cow is given because it shows how 
high test cows are handled in Iowa, another section of the 
country and also because this cow has had a good record 
and is famous not alone for her record as a junior 2-year-old. 
but also for her 3-year-old and 4-year-old records which are 
world's records. 

Mr. R. A. Arnold writes as follows concerning her feed 
and management : 

Page Seventy-nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

"Rose De Kol Wayne Butter Boy is creating quite a 
name for herself as a yearly producer and is now on test her 
fourth year as a 5-year-old and looks like she will make 1200 
pounds of butter. She has been milked and fed four times 
per day from the time she first freshened as a junior 2-year- 
old and has had but very little rest between her lactation 
periods. This cow has had a small amount of grass and 
soiling crops in lots near the test barn. We always make 
a practice of letting them out part of the time for exercise, 
and a little green grass. She has also carried a calf quite a 
long time with each record she has made, and until this last 
lactation period she has been very easy to get with calf. 

"Our main yearly ration: three parts ground oats, three 
parts bran, two parts ground corn and one part oil meal. 
Rose De Kol has always had more oil meal than the rest of 
our cows. These rations are changed from time to time 
somewhat to add variety and a change. Different cows are 
fed different amounts of the grain. We have always for 
Rose De Kol quite a lot of molasses and while she has never 
had beets she has always had liberal ration of beet pulp. 
She has always consumed large quantities of alfalfa hay. 
During most of the month she has had quite a lot of ensilage. 

"If you will study her production you will see that her 
2-year-old record is the second highest ever made for age. 
Her 3-year-old, 10-months' record, is a World's record for 
butter for age, and her 4-year-old, 10 months' record is also 
a World's record for butter for age. The total of her three 
lactation periods for butter and for milk under full age are 
larger than any other Holstein cow and they are both 
world's records. The butter record being excelled by a 
Jersey who was run three full years. 

"We expect to continue her on test as long as she lives, 
and if she is fortunate in keeping up her good work, she 
ought to make a great life-time record." 

Jewel Pontiac Segis, Beauty Girl Pontiac Segis, and 
Beauty Beets Walker Segis 

These cows were fed the following grain mixture : 
100 pounds barley 
100 pounds hominy 
100 pounds bran 
100 pounds brewers' grains 

50 pounds oil meal 

50 pounds Schumacher feed 

In a letter giving the above mixture used for feeding these 
cows, Mr. Hackney writes as follows : 

"I do not allow crowding of feed in any way. They live 
just as normally as though they were not on test. I keep 

Page Eighty 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

theni as closely as possible to the lines intended by nature. 
In my herd of over 250 head, we have had only two non- 
breeders in the past live years, and those were not of my 
own breeding. I want to say also something that you will 
perhaps consider even more startling, viz: That all of the 
daughters of Count, that have made such phenomenal 
records, more than the daughters of any other sire of any 
breed, are breeders — there is not a non-breeder among them. 
We are verv proud of this record at rden Farms." This quo- 
tation shows clearly the kind of Holstein breeding and feed- 
ing that Air. Hackney stands for. 

Segis Pietertje Prospect 

Carnation Stock Farms have made some good records. 
Probably the best way to end up this statement of the feed- 
ing of cows for long-time records is to print the statement 
of Air. Carl Gockerell, on the care and feeding of Segis 
Pietertje Prospect. No other has been able to produce as 
much milk in one year as this cow. Mr. Gockerell's state- 
ment follows : 

"Those of us who have known Segis Pietertje Prospect 
for some time cannot help but marvel at her remarkable 
development during her hard year's work. In every way 
she is a big-grer, better cow, a more efficient machine, and at 
the end of her vear she is in perfect physical condition in 
every way. We always knew the cow to be a consistent 
producer, but it took a great deal of careful and persistent 
study to bring out all that was in her. She was dry a little 
over two months, preparatory to her test. During that time 
she was fitted on a ration consisting of equal parts of ground 
(^ats, bran, hominy and oil meal and some salt and charcoal. 
She received a small amount of beet pulp and a few beets. 
At freshening time she was just in good condition. She 
freshened nicely and had a slight attack of milk fever the 
dav after freshening', but rallied quickly. She was started 
on a semi-official test the morning of December 20th. At 
that time, appreciating the fact that in order to be a good 
long distance runner, a man must go easy at the start, the 
cow was fed very conservatively — receiving 17 pounds of 
grain daily. She came on nicely, and on her ninth day on 
test milked 118.6 pounds. As the table below shows, her 
feed was then gradually increased, until the month of March. 
During that month she produced 3716 pounds of milk in 31 
tlavs. However, it was noticed that this pace was a little 
too heavv ; accordingly her feed was decreased. The follow- 
ing table shows very clearly her feeding schedule. 

Page Eighty-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

"Several very interesting features may be noted here. 
Probably the most important is the immense amount of 
roughage she consumed at all times. Invariably when any 
drop was noted in her production it could be traced to the 
hay. We tried to find first cutting alfalfa that had been 
through a sweat and had the leaves nicely attached. But 
during the months of July, August and part of September 
we were unable to secure this. She also ate considerable 
green feed; starting in March with Italian rye grass then 
oats and peas and in the fall, sweet corn. We ran out of 
this in October. We tried feeding her silage several times, 
but were not successful. Believe this was due to some 
peculiarity of the cow. She is a cow that loves freedom and 
lots of fresh air. During her fitting and up to July of her 
test period, she had access at all times to an open runway and 
spent the greater part of her time out there, rain or shine. 
In July we made the mistake of moving her into a screen 
stall where she could not get exercise, and a difference was 
noticed at once. She was kept there ninety days, and was 
then returned to her old quarters, very much to her 
happiness. 

"Segis Pietertje Prospect weighs 1650 pounds — is in fine 
physical condition at the end of her test, and is due to calve 
again the first part of April, having carried a calf 171 days of 
her remarkable test." 

Daily Ration of Segis Pietertje Prospect 



Month 


Grain 


Beet 


Hay 


Beets 


Italian 


Molasses 


Oats Sweet 


of 




Pulp 






Rye Grass 




and Peas Corn 




lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. lbs. 


Dec. 


16 


3 


20 


36 




2 




Jan. 


22 


5 


25 


56 




2 








Feb. 


23 


6 


25 


56 




2 








Mar. 


25 


6 


30 


56 


10 


3 








Apr. 


23 


6 


25 


60 


15 


3 








May- 


23 


6 


20 


60 


25 


3 








June 


23 


6 


20 


50 


30 


3 








July 


21 


5 


20 


■ 40 




3 


40 




Aug. 


22 


5 


22 


35 




3 


35 




Sept. 


22 


6 


23 


48 




3 


10 20 


Oct. 


22 


6 


25 


56 




3 


25 


Nov. 


21 


6 


28 


60 




s 




Dec. 


21 


6 


30 


60 




3 









6 parts ground oats 
4 parts bran 
3 parts corn meal 
3 parts hominy 

1 part cottonseed 

2 parts soy bean 

3 parts oil meal 

1 part ground flaxseed 



Grain Mixture 

1 part gluten 

1 lb. charcoal to 100 lbs. grain 
Salt before her at all times 
Molasses fed with pulp 
From the above it will be noticed 
that she received approximately 1 
lb. of grain to each 4.6 lbs. of milk 
produced. 



Page Eighty-two 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

XVII. Feeding for Long Distance Records 

FIRST, we should define the term, long distance record. 
The author likes to think that the champion long dis- 
tance dairy cow is the cow that will make a creditable 
seven-day record, follow it up with a good yearly record, and 
continue this sort of work for several years, producing a calf 
every year. The average productive life of a cow should be 
at least five years, with five calves. The profit in the pure 
bred business comes largely from the sale of the young stock, 
and this means numbers produced and large records. The 
cow should be tried out every year for a seven-day record in 
the hopes that she may improve her previous record. 

The fitting of a cow for a seven-day test each year gives 
her a big start on her year's record, even if she does not 
improve her previous weekly record. Fifteen or twenty 
pounds of fat a week on the start of a yearly record makes a 
big difference in the yearly total. The easiest time to get this 
high production of fat seems to be about three weeks after 
calving. A study of many seven-day records shows that 
most of them are made at about that time. 

THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 
It is well to review at this time just what the food is used 
for. A cow making a long distance record is going to be a 
hard working animal all the time. After she freshens, she 
is under a tremendous load producing milk. Soon she is 
bred, and then to the work of milk production is added the 
labor of growing a foetus. The work of milk production 
demands a liberal supply of protein because the solids in 
milk are nearly 27 per cent, protein. This protein can only 
be derived from the feed that the cow eats. Then the growth 
of the foetus demands a liberal supply of protein. All the 
needs of the animal from a physiological point of view and 
from a commercial point of view also point to a liberal sup- 
ply of protein in the feed. This means a relatively narrow 
ration, except when dry. The dry period is the time when 
there is the largest demand for protein for the foetus. From 
this standpoint, therefore, even when dry, the cow should 
have a liberal supply of protein. Any excess protein can be 
used for energy purposes. During the dry period the cow is 
laying on fat. A liberal supply of protein will help in this. 
The protein does not seem to be used in the actual forma- 
tion of the body fat, but has a guiding influence in the nutri- 
tion of the animal at this time, causing the animal to fatten 
more readily with less expenditure of feed. 

Page Eighty-three 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

The carbohydrates of the feed are used for the manu- 
facture of the milk sugar. The solids of the milk are about 
one-third sugar. This may be made from the carbohydrates 
of the feed or from the fat in the feed or from the protein, 
w en there is more protein or fat than is needed for other pur- 
poses. Then the carbohydrates are used directly as a source 
of energy, either for direct consumption or stored as fat to be 
drawn upon later for energy purposes. Body fat in the young 
foetus or in the mother, is made in large part from the car- 
bohydrates. In this sense the carbohydrates areas essential 
and as important as the protein, except in so far as the pro- 
tein of the feed has special uses, and because of its nitrogen 
has a high manurial value. A pound of protein and a pound 
of carbohydrates have the same feeding value from the 
standpoint of energy. 

The fat of the feed may be used to form body fat or milk 
fat or may be burned at once to yield energy. One pound 
of fat in the feed has two and one-fourth times as much 
energy as a pound of carbohydrates or protein. Therefore, 
fat is said to be two and one-fourth times as valuable as car- 
bohydrates or protein/ The fat has no special functions 
except as above outlined. A high amount of fat in a feed 
would not make a higher percentage of fat in the milk. 

The amount of ash or mineral in the feed of cows has 
probably not received the attention that it should. This ques- 
tion is being carefully and thoroughly studied at the present 
time. Results of these studiesAvill have an important bear- 
ing on long distance feeding. The question seems to center 
around the supply of lime and phosphorous. A large variety 
in the ration and legume roughage will help to solve this 
question. 

FEEDING PRACTICE 

Between lactations the cows on these long tests will go 
dry eight to ten weeks. A good grain mixture to be fed at 
this time with alfalfa hay and silage and perhaps a few roots, 
is 30 pounds hominy feed, 30 pounds ground oats, 30 pounds 
wheat bran and 10 pounds of oil meal. Feed liberally of this 
mixture and get the cow to fatten somewhat. If she is only 
dry for eight or ten weeks you cannot get her too fat. 

Keep her on a rather light ration, using this same mixture 
for three or four days after calving, when she may be put on 
the test mixture and her allowance raised to the limit of her 
appetite. Whenever she shows signs of going off feed she 
may be fed a meal or two of the same mixture that has been 
suggested for her when dry. 

Page Eighty-four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
She must be fed alfalfa hay or clover hay if she is 
going through two or three hard lactations. She must have 
good corn silage. She must have table beets or mangels. 
As a suggested grain mixture to be used as a test ration, the 
following is used by one of the best feeders and breeders of 
Holstein-Friesian cattle : 

300 pounds distillers' dried grains 

100 pounds oil meal 

100 pounds hominy 

100 pounds cottonseed meal 

100 pounds ground oats 

100-200 pounds wheat bran 

100-200 pounds gluten feed 

Such a mixture with alfalfa hay would give an abundance 
of protein. It may be modified in a hundred ways, but is 
efficient as it stands. 

If handled and fed as suggested, to the limit of her appe- 
tite, a cow should produce heavily. She must be watched 
carefully and kept hungry. Alfalfa hay, silage, mangels and 
grain form the basis of the ration at all times of the year, 
but advantage may be taken of pasture, if exposure to bad 
weather is not allowed and the cow is pastured only when 
flies do not plague. .She must be pampered and protected 
and watched. Care will be rewarded: Cows that are worth 
while are entitled to all they will eat all the time. 



XVIII. Summer Rations for Semi-Official Cows 

THERE is not much difference between the summer 
rations for semi-official cows and the rations fed at 
at other times of year. The principles are the same, 
plenty of succulent feed and a good grain ration. The cows 
that have made the best semi-official records have not 
depended very much on pasture, although many of them have 
been allowed some pasture. Pasture is undoubtedly- ideal 
so far as the feed is concerned. The drawbacks are many, 
however. The cow must spend much energy in getting her 
feed and in making a high semi-official record ; she has not 
the energy to spare for this extra work. Second, if she must 
depend much on pasture, she is exposed to all kinds of 
weather. This is not good for her. She must not be chilled. 
Third, and worst of all, if she goes to pasture in the day-time, 
she is open to the attack of flies. There seems to be no fly 
remedy on the market as yet that is completely a repellant. 
They will keep them off for a while but their effect will not 
last for the full day. 

Page Eighty -five 



feeding Dairy Cattle 

Therefore it seems best to depend on soiling crops and a 
good grain ration. If the cows are turned to pasture at all 
they should be carefully sprayed and watched so that as little 
trouble can come from flies as possible. The cows should be 
petted and pampered more or less and fed all they will 
possibly eat all the time. Their individual likes and dislikes 
may be studied to good advantage, and the cows pleased in 
this way. The secret is in getting them to eat and keep in 
good health. They cannot make the best use of this food 
if they must use the energy for other purposes than milk 
production or are distracted by improper stabling or 
exposure to bad weather and flies. 

The author happens to have at hand the detailed feed 
records for May, June, July, and August, of two cows that 
have made over iooo pounds of butterfat in one year. The 
feeding of these cows for these summer months must have 
been good or they never could have made these high records. 

The first was fed as follows : 

May, 1914. 17.5 lbs. grain daily of the following mix- 
ture : 3.8 lbs. bran, 2 lbs. hominy, 3 lbs. ground oats, 1 lb. 
each, wheat feed, flaxseed meal, and oil meal; 4.5 lbs. dis- 
tillers' dried grains, 1.2 lbs. gluten, 14 lbs. roots, 46 lbs. 
ensilage, 10 lbs. alfalfa hay, pasture one hour. 

June, 1914. 15.5 lbs. grain daily of the following mixture : 
5 parts bran and corn, distillers' dried grains, 1.5 part hom- 
iny, 4 parts ground oats, 5 parts cottonseed meal, 1 part each, 
Bartlett's sugar malt, Buffalo gluten, flaxseed meal and oil 
meal; 3 lbs. beet pulp, 41 lbs. ensilage, 10 lbs. green alfalfa, 
and 1 1 lbs. alfalfa hay. 

July, 1914. 18 lbs. grain daily, same mixture as given in 
June: 2 lbs. beet pulp, 15 lbs. each, red beets and green 
alfalfa; 10 lbs. sweet corn, 42 lbs. ensilage, 11 lbs. alfalfa hay. 

August, 1914. 15.2 lbs. grain daily, 14 lbs. of the follow- 
ing mixture with 1.2 lbs. oat feed added daily; 4 lbs. bran, 
2.5 lbs. hominy, 3.5 lbs. ground oats, 5.5 lbs. corn, distillers' 
dried grains, 2 lbs. Bartlett's sugar malt, 5 lbs. Buffalo 
gluten, 1 lb. each, cottonseed meal, and O. P. oil meal; 2 lbs. 
beet pulp, 20 lbs. beets, 15 lbs. each, sweet corn and alfalfa; 
36 lbs. ensilage, 9.5 lbs. alfalfa hay. 

Another cow that made 1000 pounds of butterfat in one 
year was fed as follows: 

May, 1913. 10 lbs. grain daily of the following mixture: 
250 lbs. bran, 50 lbs. each, hominy, cottonseed meal, and oil 
meal; 100 lbs. gluten, 3 lbs. beet pulp, 2 lbs. molasses, hay 
with pasture. 

Page Eighty-six 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

June, 1913. 19 lbs. grain daily of the following mixture: 
250 lbs. bran, 50 lbs. each, hominy, ground oats, cottonseed 
meal and oil meal; 3 lbs. beet pulp, 2 lbs. molasses, green 
feed. 

July, 1913. 18 lbs. grain daily of the following mixture, 
on 1st and from nth to 31st; 15 lbs. daily from 2nd to nth; 
250 lbs. bran, 50 lbs. each, hominy, cottonseed meal, ground 
oats, and oil meal; 100 lbs. gluten, 3 lbs. each, molasses and 
beet pulp; corn fodder from 1st to 15th; clover from 17th 
to 31st. 

August, 191 3. 18 lbs. grain daily of the following mix- 
ture: 250 lbs. bran, 50 lbs. each, hominy, cottonseed meal, 
and oil meal; 100 lbs. gluten, 3 lbs. each, beet pulp and 
molasses ; corn fodder, alfalfa, clover, with pasture. 

The first grain mixture is a little more complicated than 
the second, due to the addition of sugar malt, not a common 
feed, and it is doubtful if it made the ration any more 
efficient because the record of the second cow is practically 
as great as that of the first. 

To show the kind of feeding practiced at Cornell Uni- 
versity, the feeding of a young cow for the months of May, 
June, July and August, is given. She made a yearly record 
of 620 lbs of butterfat, was dry eight weeks and then made a 
seven-day record of 24 lbs. of butterfat, which put her in the 
30-lb. class. Her 30-day record in this lactation was 2481. 1 
lbs. milk, 94.129 lbs. butterfat. 

Her feed record for May, June, July, and August, 191 5, 
was as follows : 

May. 15 lbs. daily of the following grain mixture: 30a 
lbs. distillers' dried grains, 200 lbs. hominy, 200 lbs. wheat 
bran, 200 lbs. cottonseed meal, 100 lbs. gluten feed, 50 lbs. 
corn silage, 1 1 lbs. of hay. The last of the month the hay 
was dropped and some green grass fed. 

June. 12 lbs. daily of the same grain mixture as in May. 

All the green feed (grass, peas and oats, etc.) she would eat. 

July. 14 lbs. daily of the same grain mixture as in May; 

50 lbs. green alfalfa until July 17th; July 18 to 24, 30 lbs. 

peas and oats silage; July 25 to 31, 30 lbs. corn silage. 

August. 9 to 14 lbs. daily of the same grain mixture as 
in May; 30 to 35 lbs. daily of corn silage; some pasture and 
hay. 

These three statements of actual rations fed show the 
kind of ration, the feeds used, and illustrates again the need 
for succulence, variety, plenty of bulk, and plenty of protein 
in the ration. 

Page Eighty-seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

A study of many rations fed by many different feeders 
will show that they do not depart widely from, these 
methods, and the feeds listed in these rations will cover those 
generally used. 

The following is suggested as a grain mixture for the 

summer : 

500 pounds hominy 

500 pounds distillers' dried grains 

300 pounds wheat bran 

300 pounds gluten feed 

200 pounds oil meal 

• 200 pounds ground oats 



XIX. Feeding Fat Into Milk 

EVER since interest in high production records was stim- 
ulated by the dairy breed associations, breeders have 
looked for way's 'and means of raising the normal per- 
centage of fat in> a given individual cow's milk for seven, 
thirty, or longer periods of days, including semi-official and 
official yearly records. The writer has never yet seen but 
one way of doing this successfully. Many breeders have 
been sure that they had a way, but no one way has been suc- 
cessful enough to give that breeder an}/- lead over others. 
And so far as the writer is aware no method has ever been 
tested out carefully and scientifically except one. That one 
method is to fatten an animal before the testing period and 
then feed her carefully so that she will lose her body fat and 
put it into the pail. This method has been described in a 
previous paper and is really so well known among breeders 
who test that it is unnecessary to give it much more 
consideration here. 

And after all, what would the economic effect of a suc- 
cessful method to feed fat into milk in a short time test 
amount to? The partial success of feeding fat into milk by 
means of fattening the cow before testing, has already 
brought seven-day records into more or less disrepute as 
real evidence of production. The law of conservation of 
energy holds true no less with animals than with machines, 
and if a method of changing body substance into milk fat is 
found, the same amount of food must be used to produce the 
body substance at some time in the course of the period 
between the birth of two calves. 

No, in the opinion of the writer, breeders who seek to 
find a method to increase the percentage of fat in the milk of 
any individual for any period of time, short of the whole life 
of the individual, is not doing himself or the breed any real 

Page Eighty-eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

good. The breeders of the Holstein-Friesian breed had bet- 
ter give their attention to the study of methods of breeding", 
which may on the one hand increase the normal fat content 
of the milk of the breed, if that is deemed desirable, and which 
must be done at the expense of a less quantity of milk, and 
on the other hand, to methods of breeding which will increase 
capacity of the breed as a whole, to utilize feed above main- 
tenance and change it into milk. Suppose a method should 
be found which would cause a cow to test higher than her 
normal inherited percentage for seven or thirty days or even 
a vear. What good would that do the breed? Until it was 
established beyond doubt that a certain breeder was doing 
something which was influencing the production of his indi- 
viduals for short periods of time, of course he would make 
money, but it would be a great boon to the breed if some way 
could be found to enable a cow to turn more food into milk ; 
but it is the firm conviction of the writer that it is futile to 
look for methods of this kind except through breeding for 
greater capacitv and production. This kind of work will 
permanently better the breed. 

To be sure of his ground, the writer has looked over 
rather carefully the literature on this subject in recent years, 
by consulting the Experiment Station record. The only 
positive evidence that appeared was found in Bulletin ioo, 
by C. H. Eckles, of the Missouri Experiment Station. 
Ecklfs' work was wholly along the line of feeding the animal 
previous to the beginning of the test and getting her fat. 
When this was done the percentage of fat in the milk would 
be high during the first part of the lactation period. The 
effect persisted to a more or less extent through the whole 
lactation period. This kind of feeding is to be advised, 
because undoubtedly the capacity of the animal to produce is 
increased in a perfectly legitimate and normal manner, and it 
is a case of actually turning more feed into milk. 

The experiments along the line of the specific effects of 
different feeds have been verv numerous, but any positive 
effect of any one feed or combination of feeds is shown to be 
short and slight. It is probable that in many cases the effect 
could be shown to be within the limits of experimental error 
if a careful study were made. 

A number of experiments on the use of the extracts from 
certain glands of the body, particularly the pituitary gland, 
for the purpose of increasing the percentage of fat in milk, 
and also for increasing the amount secreted, have given posi- 
tive results for short periods of time, but these results usually 

Page Eighty -nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

have been followed by corresponding periods when the 
amount and quality have been below normal. 

Some positive results have been obtained by feeding a 
large amount of oil and fat in the ration. These experiments 
also have been attended without permanent results which 
would influence one to recommend definite procedure even 
for a short tivne test. 

In conclusion the author must confess that he sees little 
hope for any method for really increasing the fat percentage 
in milk, except through breeding and feeding to produce 
cows nearer the ideal that is held for the breed in question. 
The true method to get cows with high records is to breed 
for size and capacity, and perhaps if that is the desire and 
ideal of the breed, to select for a higher percentage of fat. 



Page Ninety 



Part Three — Feeding Calves 

XX. Raising Calves on Whole and Skimmed Milk 

THE raising of dairy young stock is a very important 
problem for our farmers. The feeding and manage- 
ment of stock is fully as important as the breeding, 
although we are likely to say that breeding is more impor- 
tant. It is in this sense, the animal must have the quality if 
is going to do the work in the world that is expected of it. 
First, after being well born, comes the necessity of being 
well fed as a calf. This will be the subject of this and the 
next paper. This paper will consider the growing of young 
calves on milk. 

There are three possible ways of growing calves on milk : 
i. The use of nurse cows, good producers but of grade 
breeding. 

2. The growing of the calf on whole milk. 

3. The growing of the calf on skim milk. 

The growing of calves by means of a nurse cow does not 
need any particular explanation. A good cow costing $50 
to $75 should be able to care easily for two calves and grow 
them in the very best possible condition. This method lends 
itself to practice in those places where there is abundant 
pasture on cheap land, and it goes without saying that this 
method would produce the very best calves. But as is shown 
in a table a little farther on, this is of course a very expensive 
method. 

The second method is also expensive, but is the method 
used by the breeders who are growing the best stock. This 
method means the feeding of the calf on whole milk after 
two or three days, while he is left with his mother. This 
method is also expensive, but there is a bloom and finish put 
on the calf that cannot be obtained in any other way. The 
best breeders are not content with feeding in any other man- 
ner. The details will not be discussed because all details 
are practically the same as when feeding skim milk. This 
method of feeding is the one on which, by far, the majority 
of breeders must depend, and it will be discussed in detail. 
It seems best to take up the discussion by weeks in order to 
be definite. 

Page Ninety-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

The First Two Weeks. — After the calf is born he 
should be left with his mother for two or three days. Per- 
haps until the eighth milking. The writer has always con- 
sidered the eighth milking "good" to save for home or 
market purposes. The milk of the first six or seven milkiugs 
is called colustrum. This is necessary to the health of the calf 
because it is a laxative and has a good effect on the digestive 
system. It has always seemed to the writer that the be si 
way for the calf to get the colustrum is by suckling the 
mother. It is best for the mother, too. If the calf does not 
attempt to suckle the mother by the time he is three or four 
hours old he should be helped up and assisted in getting his 
first meal. 

He should get whole milk for at least ten days. If at all 
practicable it is best to feed him for the first ten days, three 
times a day, one and one-half quarts at a meal. After the 
tenth day, if he is good and strong, he may be fed twice a 
day and receive two quarts (four pounds) at a meal. The 
temperature of the milk should always be at 90 degrees to 
100 degrees F. A thermometer costs twenty-five cents. 
Always try the temperature of the milk with a thermometer 
and know that it is at the proper temperature when fed. The 
temperature is one of the most important points to have 
correct in feeding. Beginning with the eleventh to the 
fourteenth day the calf may be changed to skimmed milk. 

The Third Week. — Take a full week from whole milk to 
skimmed milk, changing at the rate of one pound per day. 
The skimmed milk must be sweet, free from foam, and at a 
temperature of 90 degrees to 100 degrees F. 

The Fourth Week and Thereafter. — The calf may now 
have more milk as his appetite and condition demand. Do 
not over-feed him. There is much more danger from over- 
feeding than from under-feeding. Mix into each feeding of 
skimmed milk a teaspoonful of soluble blood flour. This 
blood flour may be obtained from your feed dealer. It is 
simply dried ground blood and is a by-product from the large 
abattoirs. Insist- that the kind you buy be very finely 
ground, because coarsely ground dried blood will settle out 
when mixed in the milk, and it should stay in suspension. 
Blood flour is expensive, but the amount fed is very small 
and is worth many times its cost. Its particular usefulness 
is twofold, it is a very good high protein in itself, and 
secondly, it keeps the bowels of the calf in good condition and 
overcomes any tendency to digestion troubles. 

Roughage. — At four weeks of age the calf will begin to 

Page "Ninety-two 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

eat food other than milk. The best roughage for him is 
second or third cutting of bright, well cured alfalfa hay. ( hi 
those farms where alfalfa hay is not available, the second 
cutting of clover hay is best. With a little care practically 
every farmer in the State of New York can put up a little 
cutting of clover hay for his calves. If neither of the above 
kinds of hay are available, use the best quality of hay that 
can be secured. Let the calf have all the hay he will eat. 

After the calf is six months old he may have a little 
silage. 

The Grain Mixture. — At about the time at which the 
young calf will begin to eat a wisp of hay, he will eat dry 
grain. The mixture that has given the writer much sati;— 
faction is the following: 30 pounds wheat bran, 30 pounds 
ground oats, 30 pounds corn meal and 10 pounds oil meal. 
The calf should be fed all he will eat of this mixture in a 
box nailed to the side of his pen. Never feed a calf dia- 
gram in the pail from which he gets his milk, nor mix the 
grain in with his milk. When three or four weeks old, after 
he has finished drinking his milk, put some of the above mix- 
ture in his mouth. He will soon learn to like it. At the 
same time have some of this mixture in the feed box in his 
pen. He will soon rind the box and eat regularly. Feed all 
the grain he will eat up clean after having his milk. Some 
feeders keep feed before their calves all the time. 

Care and Management Other Than Feeding. — Besides 
feeding there are some other things in the care of the calves 
that should be mentioned. More than all else is cleanliness 
and dryness. The pens should be kept clean and dry. The 
temperature of the stable may be rather low and the calves 
will grow and thrive if kept dry and clean and are well fed. 
The pens should be cleaned often and kept well bedded. In 
warm weather particularly, the calves should have access to 
clean water. 

Many farmers turn their calves out to pasture when too 
young. In New York, a good practice is, keep in the barn 
during the summer all calves born after February 1st. These 
young calves may be turned out at night pasture if one is 
available. They are too young to pick their own living 
without some extra food, so that it seems best to feed them 
in the barn the first summer. In the pasture flies plague 
them so that they do not grow well. 

Dehorning Calves.- — In herds where it is desirous that all 
the animals shall be dehorned, the best time is to dehorn 
the young calves before they are three weeks old. This mav 

Page Ninety-three 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

be done by rubbing the little nubs of horns with a stick of 

caustic' potash. This may be purchased at any drug store. 

When using it, precaution should be taken that it does not 

come in contact with the hands. This is easily done by 

wrapping in paper the end of the stick that is held in the 

hand. 

Clip the hair away from the button of horn. Dip the end 
of the stick of caustic potash into water and rub the horn 
hard with it until the skin all around the button is raw and 
bleeds a little. This is necessary in order to wholly destroy 
the horn tissue. Be careful that the caustic liquid does not 
run down into the eyes of the calf. 

This seems like a cruel practice, but in reality it is a most 
humane one, because it does not hurt the calf very much, 
and dehorning a mature animal is very painful and more or 
less dangerous. Cattle that have been dehorned are more 
docile, cannot injure each other, or the attendant, and are 
probably more productive. The sores made by the dehorn- 
ing process will quickly heal and need no attention. The 
thing of greatest importance is to do a thorough job, mak- 
ing sure that the horn button is absolutely destroyed. If 
only a part is destroyed a stubby, misshaped horn will grow 
and a poorly shaped head will result. 

Much trouble is sometimes experienced from scours aris- 
ing from indigestion. This trouble is to be prevented rather 
than cured. It may be prevented by proper feeding. The 
above directions have been followed in a herd of sixty calves 
and the calves made an average gain of ten pounds and over 
per week. Blood meal has been used religiously, and when 
a little trouble has come the only treatment that has been 
necessary has been to cut down the food at least one-half 
and to add a pint of clear lime water for a feed or two. Then 
bring the calf gradually to full feed again. 

The following table shows the comparative cost of feeding 
according to the three methods mentioned: 

Pounds average Feed cost of 100 

Food daily gain lbs. of grain 

Skimmed milk 1.5 $2.26 

Whole milk 1.9 7.06 

Running with dam 1.8 4.41 

This table is from the actual results in handling a total of 
forty-two calves divided about equally into three lots. The 
feed cost would vary with the locality, but shows a compari- 
son that might reasonably be expected. The comparison 
shows that skimmed milk is by far the least expensive, 
and a daily gain of 1.5 pounds will give a heifer that will be 

Page Ninety-four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

so well developed that it will be very difficult to recognize 
her from her sister, raised on whole milk, when both reach 
the age of two years. 



XXI. Raising Calves on Substitutes for Milk 

ON MANY farms there is need for method of feeding 
calves with a small amount of milk. The breeder has 
not yet reached the place in his business where he can 
afford to feed his calves on whole milk, although this is by far 
the best method for raising the calves to get that fine finish 
desired by buyers of the best bred stock. Neither is there 
available a supply of skimmed milk. The small breeder 
must send his raw milk to market and if he is to raise the 
herd and breed it up according to his own individual ideas, 
he must breed and raise his own young stock. How can he 
do this with a minimum of whole milk? 

There are two general ways open to him : (i) He can pur- 
chase and feed the commercial calf meals on the market. 
(2) He can mix up his own calf meal. Both of these ways 
have been tried out carefully on many farms and at several 
experiment stations, so that we know that good dairy heif- 
ers can be raised on substitutes for milk. In test of these 
calf meals alongside check groups raised on skimmed milk at 
two years of age, it has been found that there is no difference 
in development. The young calves do not grow quite as 
fast at first but soon pick up after six months of age, and, at 
two years of age, there is no appreciable difference. In our 
experience there has been no difference in productive ability 
that can in any way be attributed to the fact that the calves 
were raised on substitutes for milk. 

The importance of this cannot be overestimated. We 
must interest all our dairy farmers to raise and breed their 
own stock. Many farmers do not raise their own stock 
simply because they can not see any way to raise the calves 
without milk. Therefore they maintain their herds by pur- 
chase. It is a great gain for the industry of dairying every 
time a farmer can be interested to improve his herd by his 
own breeding. 

COMMERCIAL CALF MEAL 

Feed manufacturers in the past few years have greatly 
increased the number of commercial meals on the market. 
They are all much alike as to ingredients. It will not be 
possible to name all the commercial calf meals on the market 
or to give their ingredients. Each farmer in selecting his 

Page Ninety-five 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

calf meal must judge of its merits. Since we cannot name 
them all and give results for each, it is only fair that we do 
not name any. It is suggested that those meals will probably 
give the best results which are made up from the ingredients 
that we know to be suitable for feeding young animals. Tt 
is required by law that all the ingredients be named. If 
there seems to be any ingredients in the mixture that might 
not be suitable do not feed that meal but buy another which 
has suitable ingredients. 

Feed the commercial calf meal that you select according 
to the methods suggested by the manufacturer. In trials 
conducted by the author, covering a period of eight years, 
with several commercial feeds, the methods recommended 
by the manufacturers have been followed generally with 
good results. We have had no trouble in getting calves to 
gain at least one pound per day with commercial calf meals, 
and gains of 1.5 pounds per day have been common. JNM 
one should be satisfied with a gain of less than one pound 
per day. All the precautions and methods of supplement; r~ 
feeding, to be used with skimmed milk, must be scrupulously 
carried out with commercial calf meals, because these meals 
are a much more artificial way of feeding than skimmed milk 
and more likely to cause trouble. Extra care must be taken 
not to over-feed. 

The one thing that the author would emphasize with be 
commercial calf meals, is that fact that they are too hig'i in 
price. They cost from $60 to $70 or more per ton retail, 
whereas a good home-mixed calf meal has given better 
results than the average commercial meal at a cost of $40 to 
$50 per ton. 

A HOME-MIXED CALF MEAL 

The Purdue University Experiment Station has used 
extensively a home-mixed calf meal, simple in its make-up 
and within the reach of all. Any feed dealer can procure 
the ingredients, if you insist that he get them for you: Yon 
should be able to mix it at present prices of feeds, for $50 or 
less per ton, with the ingredients purchased at retail. The 
mixture is equal parts, by weight, of linseed oil meal, hominy 
feed, red dog flour, and soluble blood flour. The table below 
suggests the method of using the home-mixed calf meal. 

Table showing the daily amount of milk, calf meal and 
water required by calves of various birth weights and various 
ages : 

Page Ninety-six 




HET LOO PIETERTJE 

At 2 years — so. 22 lbs. butter in 7 clays. World's champion in her class. 




GLISTA ERNESTINE 
The only cow to make above 30 lbs. butter in 7 days, seven different years. She 
produced over 800 pounds milk in 7 days two different years. Conditioned and tested 



irlor- Prnf Coiioo-d'o faa/ll-ncr mnfkn^i 











Feeding Dairy Cattle 




Daily ration 


Daily ration 


Daily ration 


Daily ration 


Daily ration 


Birth 


at 5 days 


at 7 days 


at 20 day- 


at 30 days 


at 40 days 


weight 
of 


of age 


of age 


of age 




of age 


calves 


Milk 


Milk Meal 


Milk Meal Water 


Milk Meal Water 


Meal "Water 


lbs. 


lbs. 


lbs. oz. 


lbs. oz. lbs. 


lbs. oz. lbs. 


oz. lbs. 


40 


5 


6 2 


4.5 S 2 


1 13 5 


14 6 


50 





fi 2 


4.5 8 2 


1 13 5 


14 6 


60 


6 


7 2 


5.0 9 2.5 


1 14 6 


15 7 


70 


6 


7 3 


5.0 9 2.5 


1 14 6 


15 7 


80 


7 


8 3 


5.5 10 3 


1 15 7 


16 8 


90 


7 


8 3 


5.5 10 3 


1 15' 7 


16 8 


100 


8 


9 4 


6.0 11 3.5 


1 16 8 


17 8 




Calf to be 


Begin adding 






If calf is doing 




taken from 


water to the 






well, discontinue 




cow and fed 


meal after ten 






milk feeding af- 




from bucket 


days of age. 






ter this age. 




at this age. 








1 



This table is taken from Purdue University, Department 
of Agricultural Extension bulletin No. 44, published in 
January, 1916. 

This table may be followed in detail or a simple rule used 
by the writer, which checks almost exactly with the table, is 
to mix one pound of dry meal with eight pounds of water at 
100 degrees Fahrenheit and use this gruel just as one would 
skim milk, taking five weeks for the complete change from 
milk to gruel. 

The one thing to be careful about in using this method 
of raising calves is not to over-feed. Several lots of good 
looking calves have been raised by the author and no trouble 
has been experienced in getting the calves to grow at least 
one pound per day per head. Much better gains may be 
made with Holstein calves when the feeder uses care enough 
and makes pets of his charges. 



XXII. Feeding and Management of Yearlings and 
Two-Year-Olds 

FROM the standpoint of the best development of the 
heifer at the least cost, fall-dropped calves are pre- 
ferred. But this is not possible for all calves since it is 
necessary and wise to control the breeding of the herd so 
that the milk flow is maintained at about the same rate for 
the herd through the year. When a farmer can turn out 
about so much milk per day through the whole year, he can 

Page Ninety-seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

command a better market because of the uniformity of the 

amount of his product. 

It is not wise to pasture during their first summer, calves 
dropped after January or February first. Flies bother the 
young calves too much. Calves that are born before Janu- 
ary first seem to stand their first summer on pasture all right 
and make good gains. Therefore, the cost of raising a 
heifer dropped during the fall is likely to be less than that of 
one dropped later because of the greater utilization of 
pasture. Pasture is very cheap feed any way it is computed 
unless one has to give a greater valuation than $50 per acre 
to the land. 

If skimmed milk is available it may be used to good 
advantage until calves are a year or more old, although it is 
not at all necessary after eight months. It will probably give 
greater returns, fed to younger animals, than to those over 
eight months. When calves or other young stock are on 
pasture there is no greater pleasure to them than a cool, 
dark basement, into which they may run during the heat of 
the day and get rid of the flies. If the basement is made 
rather dark the flies will leave them. 

If any of the herd of calves seem a little unthrifty it is a 
very good thing to arrange matters so that these can have a 
little grain to supplement the pasture. Of course there are 
any number of feeds available for this purpose. A mixture 
that is a favorite one with the author for all young stock is 
the one already mentioned in feeding calves, 30 pounds 
hominy, or corn meal ; 30 pounds of ground oats ; 30 pounds 
of wheat bran, and 10 pounds of oil meal. If pasture is good 
perhaps no grain will be needed during the best months. 
The amount of grain necessary for heifers is about four 
pounds per day up to the time of calving, of such a mixture 
as the above. All the good clover hay and silage that she 
will eat, and four to six pounds of grain, will keep the heifer 
in good growing condition and put her in the right shape for 
dropping her first calf. There are many other feeds and 
mixtures as good as the one given above. Space will not be 
taken togive other mixtures. Distillers' dried grains, gluten, 
cottonseed meal after one year of age, brewers' dried grains, 
malt sprouts, barley, buckwheat middlings, etc. ; all make 
excellent ingredients and may be used for rations for grow- 

Page Ninety-eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

ing stock. Some high protein feed should always be 
included in the mixture to enable the animal to make satis- 
factory growth. Experience and observation prove that the 
animal which grows the most regularly and rapidly during 
the first two years of her life will make the most satisfactory 
producer. 

Many times it is said that feeding fattening foods is to be 
avoided, and much fat on a heifer is considered wrong by 
many. It is the writer's impression that there is little dan- 
ger from getting a heifer too fat. Keep her growing and in 
good condition all the time. In this paper the amount of 
grain has been placed at four to six pounds. It seems to the 
writer that this is a good plan in feeding, to allow them to 
fix the total amount of the ration by feeding all the silage 
and hay that they will eat. 

The time at which heifers should be bred is ai> important 
point to be considered in the management of heifers. 
There is a tendency among purebred breeders to breed at 
20 months of age or even later. A few figures from a good 
pure-bred herd on this point gives a good reason for early 
breeding. 

Thirty-three animals produced their first calf before they 
were 30 months old. Their two-year record was 6026 pounds. 
Their three-year record was 6780. Eighteen animals that 
produced their first calf at 36 months or a little later made 
an average of 7460 pounds of milk in their third year. The 
first lot has produced at the end of their year almost 13,000 
pounds of milk against 7500 for the second lot. In later 
years the second lot did not appear to do any better than the 
first lot. Until she becomes a milk producer the heifer 
yields no income. There are 4 good reasons for breeding early 
in addition to the above: (1) Constantly recurring periods 
of heat are as much a check on the heifer's growth as the 
development of the foetus. (2) Reproductive organs may 
become deranged if breeding is put off. (3) The condition 
of pregnancy has a marked stimulative effect upon the young 
animal during the first months. The assimulative functions 
are increased provided the heifer is furnished with an abun- 
dance of food. (4) It seems to be easier to develop a milk- 
secreting capacity when the heifer produces young at an early 

Page Ninety-nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

age. If put off sometimes the heifer shows a tendency toward 
beefiness. On the whole it seems best to have the heifer 
drop her first calf at 24 months. In conclusion, this paper 
is a plea for liberal feeding of heifers and early breeding. 



Page One Hundred 



Part Four — Miscellaneous Articles on 
Feeding 

XXIII. Feeding Dry Stock 

ALL authorities on dairying agree that cows should have 
a rest between lactation periods. Opinions differ as 
to what the length of that period should be. Pure- 
bred breeders who do much advanced registry testing are 
often accused of milking their large seven-day-record cows 
only six months in the year. This criticism is for the most 
part unfounded. A cow needs to make a big yearly record. 
From reliable sources of information it seems that two 
months is about the correct length of time for a cow to rest. 
From data on 496 cows in a cow testing association, those 
cows dry for two months produced more butterfat and made 
a larger net profit per year than those which were allowed to 
rest only one month. 

Eckles, of Missouri, regards a period of six weeks long 
enough unless the cow is thin in flesh. So far as there is 
available data it seems to make no difference in average 
annual returns per cow, whether the lactation period is nine, 
ten or twelve months long, so long as there is a rest period 
of six to eight weeks between lactation periods. It is usually 
best, however, to plan the breeding of the herd so that each 
cow will produce a calf once a year. Whether all the cows 
will be bred to come in in the fall or spring must depend on 
the market for milk and the market for stock. A little atten- 
tion to time of breeding will enable a breeder to keep the 
amount of milk produced daily uniform for the year. His 
particular market may be better for his surplus stock at one 
time of year than at another. For the greatest success all 
these points must be considered in fixing the time for 
breeding each cow. 

There are some cows that it is difficult to dry off. All 
cows should be dried off gradually. If the cow is giving a 
lot of milk when it comes time to begin the rest period, her 
concentrate allowance should be withheld, and if necessary, 
her roughage limited to timothy hay, although it is seldom 
necessary to go to this extreme. Milk her once a day for 
several days, then but once in two days and so on, gradually 

Page One Hundred One 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

lengthening the period between milkings. When she pro- 
duces ten pounds per day or less milking may be entirely 
discontinued with safety, although the cow must be carefully 
watched to see that the milk becomes re-absorbed. 

After the cow is dry she should be fed liberally on rough- 
age. Alfalfa hay and corn silage are good at this time. 
Scientists, notably Forbes of Ohio, are beginning to study 
carefully the amount of the different minerals removed in 
the milk. The amount of lime is particularly large and the 
ration fed during the lactation period does not seem to sup- 
ply enough lime in such a form that it can be easily assimi- 
lated. Therefore more lime is removed in the milk than is 
assimilated from the feed during a given lactation period. 
This lime can only come from the skeleton of the animal. 
She must restore this amount while dry. This, then, is one 
very important reason for feeding leguminous roughage. 
Legumes furnish a large amount of lime in a form more 
easily assimilated. 

Succulent feed is important at this time, as at all times, in 
feeding dairy cattle. It is healthful, cooling, and keeps the 
animal in the very best condition. 

The grain ration may be made up from various feeds. 
Variety is not so important nor is bulk at this time. The 
mixture may be made from any feeds fattening in nature, for 
the aim now is good health and vigor and some added fat. 
The author has used the following mixture of concentrates 
most successfully in feeding dry cows : 

600 pounds hominy feed 

600 pounds ground oats 

600 pounds wheat bran 

200 pounds linseed oil meal 

This mixture will put the cows in first-class physical con- 
dition and will insure proper growth of the foetus. Another 
mixture used for two-year-old heifers soon due to freshen 
for the first time, and to dry mature cows, was: 

500 pounds gluten feed 
500 pounds ground oats 
500 pounds hominy feed 
400 pounds wheat bran 
100 pounds oil meal 

Oil meal, though usually relatively expensive, is particu- 
larly valuable at this time to put the cows in good condition. 
The exact makeup of the mixture will depend, as so often 
said in this series of articles, on the feeds available at home 
and the relative cost of total digestible nutrients in those con- 
centrates that must be purchased. The principles on which 

Page One Hundred Two 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
the above mixtures rest are relative cost of digestible nutri- 
ents, a good amount of high protein feeds and the rest 
fattening feeds with a little oil meal as a conditioner. 

It is a common statement among the most progressive 
dairymen that the grain fed at this time brings in the great- 
est returns of any, and that means a larger, stronger calf, a 
cow in stronger, better condition to stand the strain of 
parturition and a good send-off into a new lactation and a 
good high production, he fat on her back while dry, by a cow 
of good dairv temperament, will all eventually return to the 
milk pail, in that she will lose in weight during a period of 
four or five weeks after calving and her milk will be richer 
in fat during this period than it otherwise would. Both of 
these facts are borne out by the results of careful 
experiments at the Missouri Experiment Station. 

The amount of concentrates to be fed daily will depend 
on the roughage. With a liberal supply of the best rough- 
age, when grain is not exceedingly high, four pounds a day 
should be fed. With valuable cows, when records are in 
view, ten to twelve pounds would not be excessive. 

In conclusion, it may be interesting to note some of the 
rations fed to dry cows in a country where the cows are just 
"roughed" through the winter. Monrad says that in Norway 
cows are often wintered on small farms on straw, birch leaves, 
reindeer moss and horse dung, cooked and given as mash 
with straw and leaves. Herring, fish offal and seaweed have 
been used in the same way. The annual yield of milk under 
such conditions was 1600 to 1800 pounds. The cow has 
always responded wonderfully to every improvement in the 
method of caring for and feeding her since these primitive 
dairy methods were in operation. 

PERTINENT INFORMATION 

Criticism of purebred breeders, tending to show that they 
milk large record cows but six months in a year, is unfounded. 

Two months is about the correct length of time that 
cows should rest between lactation periods. 

The time when cows should freshen is dependent upon 
the market for milk and the market for stock. 

A little attention in time of breeding will enable a breeder 
to keep the amount of milk produced daily uniform through 
the year. 

All cows should be dried off graduallv. 

Leguminous roughage should have a large place in the 
ration of dry cows. It furnishes lime in a form easily 
assimilated. 

Page One Hundred Three 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

Expenditures for grain to be fed to dry cows bring in the 
greatest return. They mean a larger, stronger calf, a cow 
better able to stand the strain of parturition and a good 
send-off in a new lactation period of high production. 

A cow always responds wonderfully to every improvement 
in methods of caring for and feeding her. 



XXIV. Feeding and Care of the Dairy Bull. 

MUCH is written and said about the feeding and the care 
for the dairy cow. Sometimes a short paragraph or 
two is written about the method of leading or exer- 
cising the bull, but very few men have a true appreciation 
of the importance of the bull in the herd, and he does not 
come in for his share of the study of feeding, exercise and 
care. In feeding the dairy cow the results are at once 
apparent. In feeding and caring for the bull the results are 
not at once apparent, and oftentimes the bull is dead before 
his real value is known. The writer has in mind the care of 
a very prepotent bull, that was the sire of several thirty- 
pound daughters, but his value was not recognized and he 
was not kept. He was sacrificed early, not because he was 
poorly fed or cared for, perhaps, but this may have had some- 
thing to do with it. If he had been properly cared for and 
kept in the best condition it perhaps would not have been 
so easy for the owner to sacrifice him, and he would have 
been kept longer and his value, through his daughters, 
recognized before it was too late. 

In breeding and managing purebreds we cannot put too 
much attention on the bull. He is so important. At pres- 
ent, in raising pure-bred cattle, we are taught that nearly all is 
in the breeding, and that the good or ill that there is in the 
offspring is purely the result of heredity and that nothing can 
be acquired during the life of the individual that can be trans- 
mitted. Undoubtedly this is all true, except perhaps in one 
particular, that is, in size and capacity. Feeding and care 
and management do have an effect on size and on constitu- 
tion, and in the opinion of the writer, there is some trans- 
mission of these characteristics to the offspring. Good 
envronment and liberal feeding will aid judicious selection 
very materially in increasing th esize and capacity of the 
indviduals iin any given family. 

If this is true, then how great is the importance of prop- 
erly growing the males that are to be used for service, and 
how great is the importance of properly feeding, exercising 

Page One Hundred Four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
and caring for them during their use in the herd. The 
individual female in a given herd of twenty animals influences 
the outcome of only one mating in any single year. The 
individual bull puts his influence into twenty matings every 
year and stamps his individuality on twenty offsprings, where 
an individual cow affects only one offspring. The care, feed- 
ing and management in this herd, then, of the bull, is as 
important from a breeding standpoint as the care and man- 
agement of all the cows put together and twenty times as 
important as the care and management of any single female 
of the herd. We do not wish to exaggerate this point and we 
do not think we. have. We are only trying to emphasize and 
drive it home. The income from the breeding of the herd 
is always more important than the income from milk, and in 
many of our best and largest herds the milk is practicallv a 
by-product. 

THE YOUNG BULL 

For the first six months of his life the young bull will be 
treated as his sisters are treated. Skimmed milk, or whole 
milk in some cases, with good hay, a little silage and all die 
grain he will eat, and an opportunity to grow and exercise 
some, is all that he will require. Calves born before Janu- 
ary first may be pastured the first summer if grained a little 
to secure maximum growth. If born after January first, it is 
better to keep them up, at least during the day, to be rid of 
the fly nuisance. A good grain mixture is three parts of an 
equal mixture by weight of hominy feed, wheat bran, ground 
oats, with one part of oil meal. Good legume hay, silage 
and four to six pounds of the above grain mixture should be 
very liberal feeding for the second six months. Perhaps the 
above suggestions are too liberal. Maximum growth is what 
is wanted and if that can be attained with less feed, that is 
all that is necessary. 

The bull at twelve months is not to be considered mature 
by any means, but he should be ringed and taught that the 
one who controls him is master. If he has not been taught 
before, he should be taught to lead and be handled every day. 
If this is done and he knows who is master, a bull will rarely 
become ugly or hard to manage. At ten to twelve months 
he can be used for light service. 

From now on exercise is the all important thing. Unless 
there is a particular reason for it, all animals, males and 
females, should be dehorned as calves. The sooner this 
becomes the fashion and it becomes the recognized thing, a 

Page One Hundred Five 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

great thing" for the comfort of our animals and their care- 
takers will have been accomplished. When this has been 
done bulls ma)^ be turned together and they will get a great 
deal of exercise pushing and ramming each other around and 
will be much quieter and easier to handle. 

Exposure to the weather will do no harm and is a positive 
factor for good if the exposure is not undue. Practically all 
that is needed, except in very severe climates, is a shed closed 
on three sides and open on the warm side to the paddock, 
where the bulls may run. 

In herds where only one bull is kept, additional means 
must be provided to secure more exercise than the bull will 
take of his own accord. Then in herds where sales are going 
on all the time, and it is necessary to keep the herd bull in 
more or less of a show condition, he must be regularly exer- 
cised in a more artificial manner. A tread power will do this 
or he may simply be led or driven. The important thing is 
exercise and plenty of it. One of the most valuable bulls of 
the Holstein-Friesian breed is given two miles every day on 
the road. The owner considers that the time thus spent is 
more valuable than the same time spent in any other way. 

The feed that the bull is given must be commensurate 
with the service and his condition. He should not be too 
fat, but must be in good rig. Clover or alfalfa hay, ten to 
fifteen pounds of silage, and two to ten pounds of grain, is 
indicated. The silage should be restricted or he mav 
become too paunchy to reach the cows. The grain mixture 
may be the one given above or a similar one, or may be the 
regular grain mixture given the herd. It should not be fat- 
tening, but should be rather bulky with plentv of protein, 
with at least a pound a day of oil meal. 

In conclusion, we again call attention to the great value 
of the bull, value lost sight of because it is not so apparent 
each day as is the daily milk yield of the cows, but there, 
nevertheless; and to the great necessity of exercise for the 
aged herd bull every dav, and then more exercise. 



Page One Hundred Six 



Part Five — The Sources of Feeds 

XXV. The Sources of Feeds 

THERE are three main lines of study in learning more 
about feeding dairy cattle. 

i. We should learn all we can about the principles 
of nutrition which underlie all our practice. 

2. We must learn all we can about what Dr. Armsby calls 
the "Materials of Nutrition", the feeds. 

3. We must learn all we can about the practice of feeding 
itself. 

It is with the second paragraph that this series of articles 
on the source of feeds will deal. We will try to teach some- 
thing about the feeds that may be used in the feeding of 
dairy Cows and attendant young stock. 
RELATIVE VALUES 

It is impossible to teach about feeds unless something is 
said about relative values. Whether one will use much 
gluten feed in his ration or whether he will use cottonseed 
meal depends largely on the relative value of these two feeds 
for producing milk. The price per ton will not tell this 
exactly even with these two feeds because there is less food 
in one than in the other. In one ton of gluten feed there are 
1614 pounds of total digestible nutrients and in one ton of 
good cottonseed meal such as is on the market today, there 
are 1496 pounds of total digestible nutrients. Therefore if 
these two feeds both cost $66.00 per ton the advantage is 
with the gluten feed because we would get more total diges- 
tible nutrients for $1.00 in that feed. However, if one is 
looking for protein to supplement other feeds and the prime 
reason for buying the feed was to get the protein then he 
might wish to get the cottonseed meal because in buying a 
ton of cottonseed meal one gets 632 pounds of digestible 
crude protein while in buying a ton of gluten feed one gets 
only 432 pounds. 

Therefore, one needs to study feeds carefully from two 
or three points of view. 

1. From the point of view of the total digestible nutrients 
because these are the measure of the total food value of the 
particular feed in question. So long as there is enough 
protein in the ration one pound of digestible crude protein 

Page One Hundred Seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

is worth no more than a pound of digestible carbohydrates 
and only one half as valuable as a pound of digestible fat. 

2. As a supplement to home grown feeds, roughage and 
grain, there is usually the question of an added protein sup- 
ply. Under this condition the digestible crude protein has a 
value greater than its value simply as one of the total diges- 
tible nutrients. It is customary when one is buying a feed 
for the protein in it to compute the cost per pound of protein 
just as if other nutrients were valueless, and the purchase 
were made for the protein alone. In the example of the 
gluten feed and cottonseed meal at $66.00 per ton cited above 
the protein in the cottonseed meal would cost $66.00 per ton 
divided by 632 or about 10 cents per pound and the digestible 
protein in the gluten feed would cost $66.00 divided by 432 or 
about 15 cents per pound. Therefore, cottonseed meal is a 
cheaper source of protein than gluten feed if the thing sought 
is the protein alone. Both the cost of digestible nutrients 
and the cost of digestible protein must be considered how- 
ever because rarely is a feed purchased for the digestible 
protein alone. 

3. New ideas are coming up every day in regard to the 
value of feeds and it is no longer safe to look at a feed simply 
as a source of nutrients and protein. Feeds must be studied 
also as a source of different kinds of protein and as a source 
also of some illy defined substances about which we know 
but little but which are of great importance in the growth 
and well being of animals. 

So much for an introduction. We will study the feeds 
available by plants, that is, we will take up one plant at a time 
and see what we get from it, how we get it and relatively 
what it is worth compared with other feeds. 

THE CORN PLANT AND THE FEEDS IT FURNISHES 

We naturally turn to the corn plant first for two reasons. 
First, one only has to watch the market for a short time to 
find the king of feeds. It has been said that cotton is king 
in the United States but I think that corn is the real king in 
this country from many standpoints, but particularly from a 
nutrition standpoint, both human and animal. When the 
supply of corn is big and it is running evenly, feeds are more 
reasonable in price except perhaps the high protein feeds. 
The demands for these to suppement the corn oftentimes 
drives them up above their normal as a source of total 
digestible nutrients because of their high value as sources 

Page One Hundred Eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

of protein. Second, studies at Wisconsin have established 
as for no other plant, the supremacy of the corn plant as 
food for animals. In this test at Wisconsin it was demon- 
strated that in rations using all parts of the corn plant ani- 
mals can be completely nourished, will grow as they should 
and reproduce in a healthy, normal way. The wheat plant 
and the oat plant could not do this and lines of animals fed 
on rations made up from feeds whose only source was the 
wheat plant or the oat plant failed to survive. On a mixture 
of foods from the three plants the factor which made for 
normal growth was the corn, and growth and reproduction 
went on only in proportion to the amount of corn foods in 
the ration. • 

Therefore corn is the king source of dairy cattle feeds. 
We get from corn these foods : 

ROUGHAGE 

Corn silage 
Corn fodder 
Corn stover 

CONCENTRATES 

Corn meal 

Hominy 

Corn feed meal 

Gluten feed 

Gluten meal 

Corn bran 

Corn oil meal 

Distillers' dried grains 

We will take up first a brief study of the roughage feeds 
derived from corn. Many times has the value of corn silage 
been praised. Very little can be added. However, it is 
worth while again to make some comparisons. Its value as 
a source of succulence has been discussed. It is not a feed 
that furnishes protein cheaply. Therefore the value of corn 
silage lies in the amount of total digestible nutrients in it of 
the nature of carbohydrates to furnish large amounts of 
energy and to make the rest of the ration succulent and 
palatable. 

In one ton of silage there are 354 pounds of total diges- 
tible nutrients. Eight dollars a ton is a reasonable price to 
pay for a ton of heavily eared silage. At this price per ton, 
one hundred pounds of total digestible nutrients cost $2.26 
per hundred pounds. This compares favorably with the cost 
per hundred pounds of total digestible nutrients in concen- 
trates at average prices. Eight dollars per ton for corn silage 
is high. Now generally speaking a pound of total digestible 

Page One Hundred Nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

nutrients is worth as much in corn silage as in any kind of 
food. Compared with clover hay at $24.00 per ton the value 
of 100 pounds of total digestible nutrients in silage at $8 is 
as $2.26 for the silage and $2.35 for the one hundred pounds 
of total digestible nutrients in the hay. In a ton of red 
clover hay there are 1018 pounds of total digestible nutrients. 
It is common practice to estimate the value of silage at one- 
third the value of hay. This price of $24.00 per ton for good 
clover hay is relatively no higher than is $8.00 per ton for 
corn silage. This shows how closely this practice is based 
on the principle that the food value in it is one-third the food 
value in the hay. However, a yield per acre to be compar- 
able would require a yield of 3 1-3 tons of clover to 10 of 
corn silage. I think it will be agreed that we get 10 tons 
of silage per acre much oftener than we get 31-3 tons of good 
clover hay. 

Average alfalfa hay yields 1032 pounds of total digestible 
nutrients per acre and on account of its high protein content 
and other exceptional^ good qualities, coupled with the 
fact that we can get two crops per year, the comparison 
between corn silage and alfalfa is a very close one. Total 
digestible nutrients are as valuable in one as in the other. 
The best way to dispose of this comparison is to say that the 
ideal is to have both alfalfa hay and corn silage as the source 
of the principal feed in the ration. 

This paper is a study of the source of feeds. I think 
enough has been said to show that with the one exception of 
alfalfa hay the corn plant as a whole preserved as in silage 
is the best source of feed that we have. The cost of 100 
pounds of total digestible nutrients in corn silage, clover and 
alfalfa hay is about one half the average cost of 100 pounds 
of total digestible nutrients in concentrates. Therefore, one 
can easily see the saving there is in feeding when there, is a 
good quality of roughage furnished as a source of feed with 
which to combine a good mixture of concentrates. . 

The other roughage products of the corn plant, corn 
fodder and corn stover, are valuable in their way only when 
one doesn't have a silo. A good Holstein breeder, however, 
needs a silo about as badly as he needs a pure bred bull. I 
think that most of the readers of the World have pure bred 
bulls. Some of them, however, do not have silos. I hope 
those may see this article and see that a silo is as valuable 
nearly as the bull. Corn fodder is only a makeshift crop. 
According to the technical definition of the books corn fodder 

Page One Hundred Ten 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

is the entire corn plant harvested with the ears on, if there 
are any ears. It used to be grown sown broadcast, but few 
farmers would do that in modern times. A variety should 
be chosen that is reasonably sure to mature so that the grain 
and stover may be obtained. Immature corn fodder with 
half grown nubbins has practically no more value than corn 
stover from which the corn grain (ears) has been removed. 
Comparative analysis shows the total digestible nutrients in 
corn fodder to be 1074 per ton and in corn stover 932 per ton. 
Therefore, one should be sure to choose a variety suited to 
one's climate in order to grow all the grain in the plant 
possible and if the plant cannot be put into a silo pick off the 
best of the ears for husking and feed the rest as fodder. 

Right here let it be urged that the field is no place to 
house corn stover. The more soluble digestible nutrients 
and much of the palatability of the plant is washed away by 
this treatment and this material washed out is of no use to 
the soil since it is largely carbohydrate in nature. Therefore, 
preserve the corn fodder under a roof as soon as it is cured 
enough so that it will not mold too badly in storage in order 
to have as much total digestible nutrients in the fodder as 
possible. 



XXVI. Concentrates Derived from the Corn Plant 

A KERNEL of corn is a most useful bit of food from 
either the human or animal point of view. A study 
of its analysis in comparison with other foods will 
show that it is low in mineral matter and low in fiber. The 
first must be overcome by proper combination with other 
foods in order that the proper mineral elements may be 
found in the ration. The fact that corn is low in fiber is a 
very useful thing in that this is one of the principal factors 
that gives corn its great value as a food for hogs. The upper 
limit of fiber in an ideal ration for hogs seems to be about 
6 per cent, although hogs can handle a ration with 10 per 
cent, fiber but they will not do so well. 

Corn is low in protein and the proteins need to be sup- 
plemented with feeds from other sources and of course corn 
grain must be supplemented by foods in the ration from the 
leafy portions of plants which are derived from the roughage 
parts of the ration. The palatability of corn and its great 
amount of easily digestible carbohydrates (starch) give it its 
high place among all of our grain feeds. 

Page One Hundred Eleven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

A MODERN CORN MILL 

In milling the corn kernel is divided into the hard and 
soft starch, the bran and the germ. The process of corn 
milling gives us the following feed: 

FEEDS FROM A MODERN CORN MILL 

.5 
'53 

< & ®t5 £ q§ 



? 5 s 

-« +3 



.5? *=> 



100 lbs. feed H . • H £ fcE) fc. Q" Fh£ 

Corn meal 1.3 9.3 2.3 72.0 3.8 6.9 83.8 

Corn and cob meal 1.5 8.5 7.9 67.6 4.1 6.1 78.1 

Corn feed meal 2.6 10.6 4.4 64.3 8.0 7.0 84.6 

Hominy feed 2.6 10.6 4.4 64.3 8.0 7.0 84.6 

Corn germ oil meal 2.7 22.6 9.0 46.0 10.8 16.5 82.5 

Corn bran 2.4 9.7 9.8 62.4 5.7 5.8 73.1 

In the modern milling of corn as compared with a few 
years ago one of the great differences is the recovery of 
corn oil. The corn miller cannot afford to grind his corn to 
cracked corn or corn meal for feed the way he did. He must 
recover this oil. Therefore, our modern corn mills are put- 
ting in machinery for degerminating the corn to get out the 
oil. The oil in corn is found principally in the germ. If 
the germs are entirely separated from the kernel it will be 
found that they are about fifty per cent. oil. 

In the modern corn mill the degerminating process is not 
as complete as in the starch and glucose factories because the 
degerminating process that is used is practically dry and does 
not get out the germs so well. This wet process of degermi- 
nating corn will be described more fully when we come to 
discuss the manufacture of gluten feed. 

Of course in modern milling a large amount of corn is 
made into straight cracked corn and corn meal for feeding. 
But for table meal, for grits and for poultry feed only the 
hard starch is desired and consequently the corn for these 
purposes is first degerminated and the germs used for the 
manufacture of oil. 

The corn to be degerminated is first tempered, that is, a 
small amount of water is added and steam turned into it 
which heats the corn up and brings the moisture content up 
to about 20 per cent. This tempered corn is then cracked 
by a special mill called a Beall Mill. This mill breaks the 
corn up in such a way that the germs come out by themselves 
to a large extent and may be separated for the oil presses. 
The soft starch can be separated out and the bran. The soft 
starch and the bran go to make a part of the hominy feed. 

Page One Hundrd Twelve 




... v^fe- 



SIR PIETEKTJE ORMSBY MERCEDES 
One of the breed's greatest transmitting sires. 




OAK DE KOL OLLIE HOMESTEAD 

Grand champion, National Dairy Show 1916 and 1917. 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

The hard starchy portions of the kernels are used for differ- 
ent purposes. They may be polished up and all the fine 
stuff separated off and the finished shined material used for 
hominy grits. The waste goes into hominy feed. Or this 
shined material may be used in poultry feed or be reduced 
to a finer meal for human consumption. In any case the 
waste material separated out goes into hominy feed. 

The corn germs go to rotary presses which take out the 
corn oil. The material left is called corn germ oil meal. 
This is ground and goes into the hominy feed. 

HOMINY FEED 

Thus it is seen that in the modern mill hominy feed arises 
from the (i) corn bran, (2) the soft starch portions of the 
corn kernel, (3) the waste from the screening, polishing and 
further grinding of the hard starch portion in the manufac- 
ture of fancy cracked corn, grits, table corn meal and all of 
these modern products, and (4) the residue of the germs after 
the oil is pressed out. 

All of the by-products are ground up into the uniform 
product which we know as hominy feed. Hominy feed is 
mostly white because more white corn is milled for table 
products. Yellow hominy feed arises in the same way when 
yellow corn is milled. Modern hominy feed is a little poorer 
in feeding value than that of even a few vears ago, because 
formerly the corn oil was not extracted from the. germ and 
consequently hominy feed contained more fat than it does 
now. The analysis of hominy given in the table above is 
probably too high in fat. Hominy feed is one of the very 
best of our feeds as is shown in the table. It contains more 
protein than corn meal and the amount of total digestible 
nutrients is just a little greater than the amount of corn meal. 
It is lighter than corn meal and therefore more desirable 
for feeding dairy cattle. In all tests so far as the writer is 
aware, hominy feed has shown up as well as corn meal both 
for hogs and for cattle. It will keep better in storage; prob- 
ably because it is somewhat drier and somewhat lighter. 
Hominy feed will store all right in bulk where it is not wise 
to store corn meal in this way. The official definition for 
hominy feed is as follows : "Hominy feed, hominy meal or 
hominy chops is the kiln-dried mixture of the mill run bran 
coating, the mill run germ, with or without a partial extrac- 
tion of the oil and a part of the starchy portion of the white 
corn kernel obtained in the manufacture of hominy, hominy 
grits and corn meal by the degerminating process." The 

Page One Hundred Thirteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

official definition for yellow hominy feed is exactly the same 
•as that for hominy feed except that it is made from yellow 
corn instead of white corn. 

CORN FEED MEAL 

The official definition for corn feed meal is as follows : 
"Corn feed meal is the by-product obtained in the manu- 
facture of cracked corn with or without aspiration products 
added to the sittings and is also the by-product obtained in 
the manufacture of table meal from the whole grain by the 
non-degerminating process." By comparing this definition 
of corn feed meal with the definition of hominy feed given 
just above it will be noticed that there is practically no differ- 
ence with the exception that corn feed meal would contain 
all of the germs without any of the oil having been taken out. 
Therefore, pound for pound it will be seen that corn feed 
meal should be somewhat more valuable for feeding than 
hominy. It will be noted in the table that I have given 
exactly the same analysis for corn feed meal and hominy 
feed. In the last edition of Henry's "Feeds and Feeding" 
there is no analysis given for corn feed meal. Corn feed meal 
is practically always yellow because it is in the main the 
by-product obtained in the manufacture of cracked corn and 
yellow table meal. Both hominy and corn feed meal in my 
estimation are better for feeding dairy cows than straight 
corn meal. The writer has also felt that the modern table 
meal that we buy in grocery stores is a very poor product 
for human consumption. Manufacturers have refined it to 
such an extent in order to make it look better that it has lost 
a great deal of the substance which makes the old fashioned 
water ground meal of greater nutritive value. What human 
beings have lost in the modern table meals our animals have 
gained in corn feed meal and hominy. 

CORN BRAN 

Corn bran is not found on the market to any great extent. 
As will be noted by consulting the table corn bran is an 
excellent light feed. It does not have as much digestible 
protein as wheat bran but the total digestible nutrients in one 
ton of corn bran are about 200 pounds greater than in wheat 
bran. Corn bran used in a ration having plenty of protein 
from other sources is a most excellent feed. 

CORN GERM OIL MEAL 

Very little corn germ oil meal appears on the market. 
Practically all of that corn germ meal which arises from corn 
mills which extract the oil from the germ in the ordinary mill- 

Page One Hundred Fourteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
ing process, run all of this corn germ meal into the hominy so 
that the only corn germ oil meal that we have on the market 
as such comes from the glucose process which is explained a 
little later. Mixed feed manufacturers know the value of 
corn germ oil meal, consequently in the eastern portion of the 
United States particularly it is carried by very few feed 
dealers. It is an excellent medium protein feed having fully 
the value of gluten feed, although it does not run quite so 
high in protein as gluten. Experiments at the Iowa Experi- 
ment Station have found it a very fine supplemental feed for 
hogs. It has been found there that corn germ oil meal can 
be used to save a part of the tankage which it has been 
thought necessary to feed with corn to supplement the corn. 
Corn meal, corn and cob meal and cracked corn do not 
need any particular discussion. These are straight corn 
products of the corn kernel and all of us are very familiar 
with them already. 

GLUTEN MEAL AND GLUTEN FEED 

A very large amount of corn is ground up each year for 
the manufacture of starch and glucose sugar. In this case 
the corn is first steeped in a solution of water and sulphur 
dioxide. The wet corn is then ground up in a special mill 
called a Foos Mill which breaks up all of the corn kernel 
except the corn germ. This grinding puts the corn kernel 
into such condition that the corn germs are separated out in 
an unbroken condition. The germs are then dried, warmed 
and the oil pressed out of them. This leaves behind corn 
germ meal which is marketed as such from the glucose and 
starch manufacturing plants. 

That part of the corn kernel that remains after the germ 
is taken out is subjected to several separations which yield 
corn bran, starch and gluten meal. The starch is refined 
into several different brands of commercial starch or the 
starch is changed into several different grades of sugar. The 
official definition for gluten meal is "Corn gluten meal is that 
part of commercial shelled corn that remains after the separa- 
tion of the larger part of the starch, the germ and the bran, by 
the processes employed in the manufacture of cornstarch and 
glucose. It may or may not contain corn solubles." Some 
gluten meal is sold as such and if one will study the defini- 
tion closely and will stop to realize what has happened to 
the corn kernel he will see what kind of a product is left in 
gluten meal. The corn bran is gone, most of the starch is 

Page One Hundred Fifteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

gone, the germs are gone, therefore, gluten meal must be 

very high in protein. 

Gluten feed is gluten meal mixed with the corn bran and 
the material which is dried out from the "steep" water that 
the corn was originally steeped in before grinding. The 
official definition of gluten feed is "Corn gluten feed is that 
portion of commercial shelled corn that remains after the 
separation of the larger part of the starch and the germs by 
the processes employed in the manufacture of cornstarch 
and glucose. It may or may not contain corn solubles." 
In order to bring out the differences, the following analyses 
are given. 



* ■ ~i , sa £ 2l 

o 3£ 5 ^K 3 -SP ' o = 

Gluten meal 1.1 35.5 2.1 47.5 4.7 30.2 84.0 

Gluten feed 2.1 25.4 7.1 52.9 3.8 21.6 80.7 

Dis. dried grains 2.6 30.7 11.6 36.3 12.2 22.4 88.9 

This table clearly shows how the addition of the corn 
bran to the gluten meal gives gluten feed. Comparison 
with the first table in the paper shows the differences 
between the corn milling processes and the glucose starch 
processes, and therefore, the difference between hominy 
feed and gluten feed. Gluten feed has more protein and 
less carbohydrates and less fat because in the practically dry 
milling of the corn mill more starch is left in the by-product 
but a great deal of the protein goes into the main products. 
More fat is found in the .hominy feed because in the first 
place all of the germs are not separated out and in the second 
place the germ oil meal goes back into the hominy feed. In 
the wet processes which give rise to gluten feed a very large 
proportion of both the hard and soft starch goes into the 
main product but all of the gluten or protein is left behind in 
the by-product. None of the germ is left in the by-product 
consequently gluten feed is high in protein but only medium 
in carbohydrates and low in fat. However, so closely do 
these differences offset each other that the amount of total 
digestible nutrients in one ton of hominy, 1692 pounds, is 
only slightly larger than the amount of total digestible 
nutrients in one ton of gluten feed, 1614 pounds. The amount 
given for the hominy is probably too high because most of 
the analyses for hominy given in "Feeds and Feeding," from 
which these analyses are quoted, are for hominy containing 

Page One Hundred Sixteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

all the germ without the extraction of the oil. Gluten feed 
is one of the very finest of the high protein feeds just as 
hominy is the ideal low protein feed for milk production. 

DISTILLERS' DRIED GRAINS 

This feed is practically gone. Dairymen will gain from 
prohibition particularly if they all hold together and boom 
milk as the great natural health drink but they have lost one 
of the best high protein feeds. Little space will be taken 
here for discussion of distillers' dried grains but it is of 
interest to mention them because of the principles in their 
manufacture. In manufacturing alcohol from corn nothing 
is taken out except the starch so that in distillers' grains we 
have left the corn bran, the gluten or protein, and all the 
germ. Therefore, distillers' dried grains from corn are high 
in protein, low in carbohydrates and high in fat. The large 
amount of fat left in them causes them to run high in total 
digestible nutrients. The starch is so much more completely 
separated out in the process of distilling that the protein 
runs higher than in gluten feed and the fiber is also some- 
what higher. A thorough fundamental understanding of 
every feed can be had if we stop to think of the analysis and 
makeup of the original cereal with which we start and then 
think out what part is taken out in the manufacturing 
process and what parts are left in the by-products. 

A NEW BY-PRODUCT FROM CORN 

Maltose syrup or sugar is being manufactured from corn. 
As I understand the process, although I have not visited a 
factory as yet, the germs will all be left in this case and 
nothing but starch taken from the corn kernel. If this is 
the correct understanding then the by-product from maltose 
manufacture will closely resemble distillers' grains from corn. 
I have seen a sample of this by-product and it resembles 
distillers' grains quite closely. 

Distillers' grains have one quality which gluten lacks ; 
namely, a fine mechanical bulky condition. This new corn 
maltose by-product has that good quality of bulkiness. 
Gluten manufacturers might well try to turn out gluten feed 
in this bulky condition. 

This completes the discussion of the feeds derived from 
the corn plant. It is the greatest plant friend of the dairy 
farmer and I hope this description may help others to under- 
stand just a little better some of the products we get from 
corn. 

Page One Hundred Seventeen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

XXVII. Barley and Its Products 

FARMERS have a very favorable crop in barley. I 
sometimes think that its value as compared with corn 
for feeding purposes is not realized so well in this 
country as it is in the old countries. Probably this is true 
because corn grows so easily and under ordinary circum- 
stances the difference between the price of barle)* and the 
price of corn is not great. When there is a difference in 
price considerable money can be saved in feeding if one has 
taken advantage of the barley market. 

In feeding pigs ground barley is particularly valuable. 
It is a close competitor of corn. One experiment at the Wis- 
consin Experiment Station in the past year or two has shown 
that ground barley and whey appear to supplement each 
other exceedingly well in the growing and fattening of pigs. 
While we are thinking of barley particularly as a food for 
dairy cattle yet it is worth while to call attention to its value 
for other animals as well as for the cow in milk. 

Ground or rolled barley is a very valuable feed for horses 
and it can be made one of the ingredients of a very success- 
ful growing ration. As a mixture it would be hard to beat 
equal parts of ground barley, ground oats and corn meal with 
10 per cent, by weight of oil meal to put good healthy growth 
on calves. 

In regard to its value for dairy cattle an interesting trial 
at the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station may be 
reported here. Two groups of six cows each averaging 
about iooo pounds in live weight were fed for two periods 
of six weeks each. Sixty per cent, of the grain mixture fed 
to the first lot during the first period was ground barley. 
At the same time the second lot was getting a grain mixture, 
sixty per cent, of which was ground corn. The ingredients 
of the rations were otherwise the same. At the end of the 
first six weeks period the rations were reversed, the first lot 
getting the corn ration and the second lot the ration contain- 
ing the barley. The rate of feed was one pound of grain daily 
for every pound of butterfat produced in a week by each cow. 
All the cows were fed alfalfa hay and corn silage for rough- 
age. The proportion of silage to hay was three pounds of 
corn silage to one pound of alfalfa hay fed daily for every 
ioo pounds of live weight. 

The ground barley mixture was made up of 600 pounds 
of ground barley, 150 pounds of wheat bran, 100 pounds of 

Page One Hundred Eighteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
brewers' dried grains, 75 pounds of cottonseed meal and 75 
pounds of linseed oil meal. In the second mixture corn meal 
was put in place of the barley in the same proportion. The 
average daily ration eaten by the cows in both groups was 
9.07 pounds of hay, 31 pounds of silage and 7.4 pounds of 
grain. The same average amount was fed to all cows irre- 
spective of whether they were getting ground barley or the 
corn meal. The cows fed the barley ration did not do quite 
so well as the cows fed on the ration containing the corn 
meal, but there is so little difference between the yields oi 
the two groups that it is not possible definitely to say that 
the corn meal was superior to the barley as an ingredient 
of a good milk ration. Both groups averaged about 25 
pounds of milk, testing 3.6 per cent, butterfat. 

There was some difference in live weight which was in 
favor of the barley ration. During the time that they were 
fed those cows which received the sixty per cent, barley grain 
mixture apparently gained 1.9 pounds per head. Those cows 
that were fed on the grain mixture containing sixty per cent, 
of corn meal apparently lost i.6 pounds per head per day 
while being so fed. However, these differences in live 
weight like the milk and fat production are too small to be 
given very much consideration as proving the barley to be of 
greater value than the corn meal. This much can be said v 
it seems to me that the rations were practically equal in value 
and from the results of this test we must conclude that the 
ground barley was fully as effective as the corn meal in a 
ration for milk production. 

I feel that this test and the tests that are somewhat older 
but which point to the same results show that barley is a 
very good feed. Now that we have national prohibition in 
the United States, it seems to me that there should be a 
greater quantity of barley available for feed. 

THE BY-PRODUCTS FROM BARLEY— MALT SPROUTS, BREWERS" 

DRIED GRAINS 

Naturally barley is a low protein feed in the same class 
with the other cereal grains such as wheat, rye, corn and 
oats. In the process of malting and brewing, the substance 
which is needed for the production of alcohol is the starch 
of the barley grain, the same as in each case where alcohol 
is produced from vegetable material. Consequently the 
carbohydrates are used up for the production of alcohol and 
the proportion of protein in the residue is larger. There- 

Page One Hundred Nineteen 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

fore, we would expect to find brewers' dried grains and malt 
sprouts to be feeds high protein in nature. This is exactly 
what we do find. 

Briefly the process of the manufacture of beer from bar- 
ley is as follows : The first stage of manufacture is the malt- 
ing. The barley is moistened and put into a warm room on 
the floor in a layer a few inches thick. The moisture and the 
warmth causes the barley to sprout. The sprouts are allowed 
to grow until the experience of the malster tells him that 
all of the starch in the barley grain has been transformed 
into malt sugar. This takes a number of days. The sprouted 
barley is then kiln-dried and run over screens which take out 
all the dirt and break off the small sprouts. The screened 
barley is the commercial product which we know as malt 
and practically all of the starch in this barley grain has been 
converted into maltose sugar. In the process of screening 
the malt sprouts are all broken off and this gives us the 
commercial feed that we know as malt sprouts. 

The malt is then brewed which takes out the malt sugar 
and this is used in the manufacture of beer. This 
process of manufacture leaves as a residue of the barley 
kernel, the ash, the protein and the fiber and the fat. There 
is also considerable carbohydrate matter which was not 
transformed in the process of malting. This residue is kiln- 
dried and comes on the market as brewers' dried grains, a 
high protein feed having a great deal of value. 

THE FEEDING VALUE OF MALT SPROUTS 

Malt sprouts contain 26.4 per cent, protein. Therefore, 
they rank as a high protein feed. In 100 pounds of malt 
sprouts there are 20.3 pounds of digestible crude protein and 
in one ton of malt sprouts we have 141 2 pounds of total 
digestible nutrients. On the basis of total digestible nutri- 
ents malt sprouts would have in them somewhat more diges- 
tible material than wheat bran and about the same amount as 
in ground oats. Besides malt sprouts are high in protein 
and will help in a ration in which there is a necessity for pro- 
tein. This protein in malt sprouts is, however, not so 
valuable as the protein found in other grains. 

Malt sprouts having been dried in a kiln and because of 
their nature absorb water very rapidly. Therefore, if one is 
going to put into his ration more than two or three pounds 
of malt sprouts per day, he is likely to have digestive troubles 
with his cows unless the malt sprouts are soaked before 
ieeding. A very good way to use malt sprouts is to soak 

Page One Hundred Twenty 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

them up with water and feed the rest of the grain dry on 
top of the malt sprouts. Three or four pounds of soaked 
malt sprouts per day per animal makes a very valuable suc- 
culent feed in case one does not have silage. Personally I 
have not liked malt sprouts very well as a dairy feed, but 
there is no reason why they should not be very valuable 
when properly used. 

THE FEEDING VALUE OF BREWERS' DRIED GRAINS 

Brewers' dried grains in my opinion are more valuable 
pound for pound in dairy rations than wheat bran or ground 
oats. They are particularly valuable because of the high 
protein which they contain. There is in ioo pounds of 
brewers' dried grains a total of 26.5 pounds of protein, of this 
21.5 pounds are digestible. In one ton. of brewers' dried 
grains there are 13 14 pounds of total digestile nutrients, a 
little less in value according to computation than in one ton 
of malt sprouts. In my opinion pound for pound brewers' 
dried grains are more valuable than malt sprouts. Here 
again I have had some personal idea that I would not like 
brewers' dried grains very well as a dairy feed, but then the 
price is such as to warrant their use. I know that brewers' 
dried grains are more valuable than oats but they are less 
valuable than the other high protein feeds such as gluten 
feed, oil meal and cottonseed meal. I look upon brewers' 
dried grains as a very valuable feed for adding bulk to a 
ration otherwise too heavy. 

BARLEY FEED 

During the war some barley was used for the manufac- 
ture of barley flour for human consumption. As I remem- 
ber it millers took out about 45 per cent, flour leaving ^i P er 
cent, of the barley kernel in the form of what was known 
commercially as barley feed. Good brands of barley feed made 
up of 50 per cent, of the kernel would be more valuable it 
seems to me than wheat mixed feed and if I had an oppor- 
tunity to buy barley feed as cheaply as I could buy wheat 
feed, I would choose the barley feed because I think that the 
percentage of the nutrients would be greater than in the 
wheat feed. 



XXVIII. Rye and Oats and Their Products 

IN THE rye crop we have a crop which will give us the 
earliest green feed in the spring. Rye seeded in Sep- 
tember and October in the climate of southern New York 
and northern Pennsylvania will give a cutting of green feed 
surely by the 15th of May. No other crop will do as well as 

Page One Hundred Tiventy-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

this. Rye is often used as a winter cover crop because a good 
amount of green material may be turned in from this crop 
earlier in the spring than with any other, so that rye makes 
an excellent soiling crop or crop for green manure. 

The green rye crop may be used as early pasture for hogs 
or for cattle. This green feed is practically the only way 
that rye can be utilized as a roughage due to the toughness 
of the green rye straw. The rye plant is rarely used for hay. 
The same applies to rye straw from which the grain has been 
thrashed. The straw is so tough that it is not palatable and 
cannot be used to good advantage by the animals. There- 
fore, we must put the rye plant down as one of the poorest 
plants that we have for production of roughage except for its 
usefulness as a very early green crop to be used as a soiling 
crop or for pasture in the spring. 

RYE GRAIN 

Rye has been used as a grain probably as widely as any 
plant that we have. It is known in all countries and is a 
good crop because it will grow on many different soils. This 
grain, sometimes called "Grain of poverty," thrives in general 
in cool regions. It is said that one-third of the people of 
Europe obtain their bread from rye. Rye is fed commonly 
to all animals all over Europe and Asia. It is not so well 
known in America and due to the fact that it is not well 
known many farmers have aversion to it for feeding. I 
think that the dangers from feeding rye to animals is over 
estimated. 

As a feed for dairy cows ground rye may be used in 
rations just as one would use ground oats or ground barley 
or corn meal, that is, to form a part of the grain mixture with 
proper bulky feeds like wheat bran or ground oats and proper 
high protein feeds like gluten feed, oil meal or cottonseed 
meal. Probably it is not advisable to grow rye for feeding 
dairy cattle unless there is something about the soil on a given 
farm which seems to demand the use of the rye in the rota- 
tion. I doubt if ground rye is as valuable as ground barley 
or corn meal for dairy production, but a good dairy farmer 
should always be on the lookout for a bargain in a grain, and 
if it is possible to purchase rye relatively cheaper, it will be 
found to be a valuable addition to the grain mixture. 

In comparison, ground rye does not differ materially from 
ground barley. According to average analyses ground rye 
would contain 1620 pounds of total digestible nutrients per 
ton. A ton of ground barley would have in it 1588 pounds 

Page One Hundred Tiventy-two 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

of total digestible nutrients. Compared with corn the rye 
is less valuable. A ton of corn meal will have approximately 
1676 pounds of total digestible nutrients. Therefore, on the 
basis of digestibility as shown by the number of pounds of 
digestible nutrients, rye would come about half way between 
ground barley and corn meal. 

There is some prejudice against the feeding of rve to 
horses in this country. It is possible that many of the bad 
results laid to rye is due to grain of poor qualitv or grain 
containing impurities. To be perfectly safe it seems to be 
well to avoid the feeding of rye in large quantities to horses. 
From what data we have it seems probable that ground rye 
ranks about the same as ground barley as a suitable food for 
the production of pork. 

RYE WILL NOT PRODUCE ABORTION 

One of the things attributed to rye for which I think it 
is not to blame is the accusation that rye used as a feed for 
dairy cattle will cause abortion. I think that this is not in 
any way to be proven by any evidence that I have ever seen. 
I think that no dairy farmer who has an opportunity to buy 
rye at a good price should hesitate to use it for his dairy 
because I do not think that it is possible to produce abortion 
in cattle in this way. 

RYE BY-PRODUCTS 

The by-products in the manufacture of rye flour, are rve 
bran and rye middlings. These by-products are not usually 
sold separately, but are combined and sold as rye feed. 
Rye feed according to analysis has in it about 15.3 per cent, 
total protein as compared with 16.8 per cent, total protein 
in wheat feed. One ton of rye feed will contain about 1490 
pounds of total digestible nutrients where one ton of wheat 
feed will contain about 1340 pounds of total digestible nutri- 
ents to the ton. The comparison of these two analyses shows 
that rye feed will carry somewhat less protein than wheat 
feed but that there are more total digestible nutrients per ton 
in the rye feed, making the rye feed somewhat more valuable 
than wheat feed as an ingredient in a grain mixture carrying 
plenty of protein from other sources. I should feel that 
where it is possible to buy rye feed that it would be found 
to be fully as valuable as wheat feed and can be used in the 
grain mixture in the same way. 

Page One Hundred Twenty-three 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

OATS 

When we come to this feed we come to a feed which is 
used possibly as widely as any feed with which farmers have 
to do. Oats are grown the whole country over by large and 
small, and rich and poor farmers. It comes pretty nearly 
being the universal feed for horses in the United States. 

As a roughage oats are utilized both as green feed, as 
hay and the straw is probably the most useful straw for 
feeding of any of the straws from the cereal grains. Oats 
grown with Canadian field peas make one of the very best 
of our soiling crops and a useful crop in that the seeding 
time and harvesting time may be spread over a consider- 
able number of days by making successive plantings and 
in this way securing a succession of green crops through the 
early summer. Oats and peas both have the advantage of 
getting started early in the cool spring months and thus 
making it possible to get a green crop rather early in the 
year from a spring seeding of the same year. 

Oats cut in the milk stage make a satisfactory hay. 

Oat straw according to its analysis has nearly as high a 
value for feeding as straight timothy hay. I very much 
doubt if horses could utilize oat straw to anywhere near as 
good advantage and get as much out of it as they could from 
timothy hay; but if one is forced to the feeding of timothy 
hay to dairy cattle, particularly if the timothy hay is late cut, 
I am of the opinion that he would make more money if he 
would utilize oat straw to considerable extent, to supply the 
necessary roughage and sell the timothy hay, because timo- 
thy is not utilized to good advantage by dairy cattle and 
straight timothy is not much more palatable than oat straw. 

However, I do not think that we need to use up any 
valuable space discussing the feeding value of any kind of 
straw before an intelligent audience of dairy farmers, because 
no farmer who is on to his job is going to force his 
cows to eat either timothy hay or straw of any kind for rough- 
age. THe only decent roughage for a dairy cow and the 
only kind that her owner should ever put before her is a 
good variety of legume hay. The place for straw in a real 
dairy barn is not before the cows but under them. 

OATS AS A GRAIN FEED 

Oats used as a grain makes up one of the most useful 
feeds that we have on the- dairy farm. We do not need to 
discuss the value of oats for horses. Almost all people, 

Page One Hundred Tiventy-four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

farmers and others as well, look upon oats as a natural grain 
feed for horses. 

One of the best uses which can be made of oats on a 
dairy farm is as an ingredient of the growing ration. The 
writer has found very useful as a mixture for growing young- 
stock of all ages the following: 

30 pounds ground oats or rolled oats 
30 pounds wheat bran 
30 pounds hominy or corn meal 
10 pounds oil meal 

I have always liked rolled oats better than ground oats 
and I think there is a real danger in having oats ground too 
finely. The writer has had indirect experience with the feed- 
ing of a car of heavy oats ground very finely, so finely that at 
a distance away a bin of these finely ground oats could 
hardly be distinguished from a bin of hominy feed from 
white corn. In every case where these finely ground oats 
were fed to dairy cows or to calves the animals would scour 
and while it is hard to believe that the ground oats would 
cause this trouble yet when these finely ground oats were 
taken out of the ration this trouble disappeared. To be sure 
this is only a single instance but it seems to the writer that 
rolled oats would be more palatable and would serve every 
purpose for which ground oats could be used and on a whole 
would be more advantageous and more palatable to most 
animals. 

Once or twice I have taken occasion to make a rough 
survey of a number of the feeders of many advanced regis- 
try animals with creditable records. In practically every 
case I have found that ground oats with wheat bran and 
oil meal makes up the fitting ration, not always the combina- 
tion given above for growing stock but of approximately 
that combination. Most of the men fitting their animals 
for advanced registry records seem to prefer a little larger 
proportion of oil meal. Several cows have made 30-pound 
records to the knowledge of the writer who have had the 
above mixture of the equal parts of oats, wheat bran and 
hominy with 10 pounds of oil meal used as the sole mixture 
fed when cows were dry. 

A grain mixture composed of rolled oats alone does not 
make up a bad mixture for young calves and growing stock. 
If rolled oats and milk are good for children and babies, 
rolled oats and milk should make an excellent ration for 
growing milk-producing animals. 

Ground oats is a very favorite feed in the rations of those 

Page One Hundred Twenty-five 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

who are making creditable advanced registry records. 
Rolled oats is particularly valuable as a bulky feed to sup- 
plement wheat bran in rations nowadays when we no longer 
have distillers' dried grains to add the bulk that we want in 
our best dairy feeds. Dairy farmers will do well to see to 
it that they have a good acreage of their land devoted to the 
raising of oats for their young stock and to put into the dairy 
ration. 

BY-PRODUCTS OF OATS 

Rolled oats is without question one of the best known 
of our breakfast foods and is used universally by all classes 
of people. This of course has given rise to a great industry 
in the milling of oats and since only the groats are used for 
this purpose there arises from the oat meal mill thousands of 
tons of what is known as oat meal mill by-product. 

In the process of the manufacture of oat meal, to 
describe it in a brief way, the oats are first dried or tempered. 
so that the hull can be readily separated from the groat, 
the oats are then milled to separate the hulls from the groat. 
In the process of milling there necessarily is an amount of 
middlings and what might be called oat bran separated from 
the oat groat as well* as the hull. Therefore, the oat meal 
mill by-product is made up of oat hulls, oat middlings, oat 
bran and oat dust. These are all mixed together and sold 
as oat meal mill by-product. It takes 320 pounds of oats 
to make 200 pounds of oat meal. Therefore, about one-third 
of the oat is hull and there would be a yield of oat meal 
mill by-product from any given mill of about one-third of the 
total 'oats used in the manufacture of oat meal, thus it can be 
readily seen that there is an enormous quantity of this 
by-product manufactured every vear. 

This material is reground and sold in the market as oat 
feed. Most of it is sold as an ingredient of mixed feeds. 
The amount of total digestible nutrients in one ton of oat 
feed is about 1100 lbs. In my opinion this is a very liberal 
rating of digestibility. The amount of digestible protein is 
not over 7 per cent. For comparison, wheat bran has 1218 
pounds of total digestible nutrients per ton and red clover 
hay has 1018. Therefore, it will be seen that oat feed has a 
value not much, if any, above that of roughage. 

In mixed feed manufacturing oat feed is used to give 
bulkiness to a feed that would otherwise be too heavy. There 
has been little demand for this feed as such and oat feed 
is not generally on the market as a separate ingredient. 

Page One Hundred Twenty-six 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

Farmers as a rule do not care for it and feed dealers do not 
find it profitable to stock it. 

BARLEY, OATS AND PEAS 

We have discussed the feeding of barley and in this 
paper we have said something about the usefulness of oats. 
It seems to the writer that this is the proper place to just say 
a word about the use of Canadian field peas. Field peas 
analyze 22.9 per cent, protein and are highly digestible. 
One ton of field peas yields 1524 pounds of total digestible 
nutrients. 

One of the very best home grown grain mixtures would 
be a mixture of barley, oats and peas. A good seeding mix- 
ture is 7 pecks of oats, 3 pecks of barley and 1 peck of peas. 
This mixture has given good success in New York State and 
I know of one farmer who harvested this year 1500 bushels 
of this home grown grain. I just want the readers of the 
Holstein-Fribsian World to think about how this man is 
fixed with a herd of 50 purebred cattle and attendant young 
stock, who to my knowledge has in his barn a good supply 
of alfalfa hay, a couple of silos full of good corn silage and 
1500 bushels of barley, oats and peas as a starter on his ration 
for the coming winter. I rather think that he is not worry- 
ing very much about car shortage, the high price of feed and 
things of that kind. The only thing that concerns him is to 
see to it that the Dairymen's League gets him a good price 
for his milk, and as a fitting end to this short article on the 
merits of rye and oats, I take pleasure in calling attention 
to this example as the highest type of home grown ration 
that I have come across in my experience. 



XXIX. Wheat and Its By-Products 

CORN is always king in America from the cattle feeders' 
standpoint. On account of the offal produced from 
milling, wheat runs a close second because of the 
immense amount of the by-product produced which is first 
class material for feeding animals. The principal by-product 
of wheat, the bran, is of particular importance to feeders of 
dairy cattle because of the bulk it gives to the ration as well 
as because of the nutrient present. All of the by-products 
of wheat are of particular importance this year because they 
are relatively cheaper. This is to me emphasized more and 
niore as the year goes on because oats, practically the only 
other source of bulk in the dairy cow mixture, are going to 

Page One Hundred Twenty-seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

be scarcer and scarcer as the feeding season advances. First 
let us look into the value of wheat as a loughage, then 
examine the value of wheat itself as a food for animals and 
lastly study the by-products. 

WHEAT AS A GREEN CROP 

The wheat plant does not stand very high as a source 
of feed in the form of roughage. In only one place does it 
stand out. As a soiling crop it is early in the spring. Only 
one other crop can be cut earlier and that is rye. For the 
few farmers who depend wholly on soiling crops with no 
pasture a small acreage of wheat will give them a green 
crop for use early in the spring following rye. This crop 
of wheat will fit in well and help out with alfalfa and clover 
to get a succession of soiling crops up to the time when 
the first crop of peas and oats is ready. It has the further 
advantage of being a crop that has a value for grain if it 
is not all used up as a soiling crop. 

WHEAT AS A FEED 

Ordinarily wheat is too valuable to be fed as a grain 
in the same sense that one feeds corn or oats or barley. 
If, however, for any reason the wheat is unfit for milling 
or if one can buy a lot of wheat reasonably it has an 
excellent feeding value when ground and mixed with other 
feeds for a ration. In this respect it is probably fully equal 
to corn or barley for feeding dairy cows or other animals. 
Ground wheat is not so palatable as corn or oats or barley 
because when ground up it forms a sticky mass in the mouth. 

Salvage wheat is the name given to wheat that has been 
damaged by fire or water in elevator fires or wheat that has 
been damaged in the holds of ships when transported by 
water. This salvage wheat is nearly as valuable for feeding 
as the best of wheat and sometimes very good bargains in it 
may be had by farmers who are alert in buying in the larger 
cities where there are grain elevators. Wheat is particularly 
valuable for poultry. 

An experiment carried on at the Wisconsin Experiment 
Station has demonstrated that animals cannot be grown in 
a satisfactory manner on the products of the wheat plant 
alone. A group of cows was fed on wheat straw and a 
grain ration made up of wheat and its by-products. Another 
group was fed on a ration made up entirely from the- oat 
plant and another on a ration made up entirely from the corn 
plant, and a fourth group was fed on a ration made up froni 
feeds selected from all three plants, corn, wheat and oats. 

Page One Hundred Twenty-eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

The group fed on the ration from the wheat plant did the 
poorest of all. Therefore this teaches us that wheat feeds 
must be supplemented with feeds from other sources. 

It is probably not worth while to try to make use of wheat 
straw in feeding any kind of animal. 

THE MILLING OF WHEAT 

The main reason wheat is grown is to furnish flour for 
human consumption. Wheat could not be grown economi- 
cally as a feed for animals when there are plants such as 
corn, oats and barley that can be grown to furnish feed- 
People over the world demand white bread, consequently 
a great industry has been built up which furnishes white 
flour for this purpose and we get the offal for feeding 
animals. 

It takes about 274 pounds of wheat, four and one-half 
bushels, to make a barrel, 196 pounds, of white flour. That 
leaves us approximately 78 pounds of offal for animal feed. 
This is about 71 per cent, extraction as it is called. During 
the war this extraction was raised to about j$ per cent, 
which decreased the amount of by-product available for feed- 
ing during that time. The consumption of wheat in the 
United States is about four and one-half bushels of wheat 
per person per year, to say nothing of the flour that is milled 
in this country and exported leaving the offal here. This 
shows what an enormous quantity of wheat by-product there 
is for our animals and what a factor it is in the feed supply. 

The offal or by-products from the milling of wheat con- 
sists of wheat bran, standard wheat middlings, flour wheat 
middlings, red dog flour, and low grade flour. The process 
in brief is this. The wheat is not ground but is run through 
rolls that break it. There are several of these pairs of rolls, 
the rolls of each pair being somewhat closer together than, 
the pair preceding. After the wheat passes through each 
pair some of the flour is taken out. Thus the manufacture 
of wheat flour is a gradual reduction process until all of the 
flour has finally been separated from the bran and middlings. 
In war time not quite so close a separation of flour was 
allowed, consequently "war grade" flour contained all the red 
dog and low grade feeding flour and a higher percentage of 
the wheat was thus utilized for human consumption. Patent 
flour means flour from which all possible by-products have 
been separated and is the highest grade of white flour made. 

Page One Hundred Twenty-nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

WHEAT BRAN 

Wheat bran is the commonest of the wheat by-products 
and is the most bulky and coarse. It should be flaky and 
sweet. The bran is made up of the three outer coatings 
of the wheat berry and is comparatively rich in digestible 
protein, carries considerable digestible carbohydrates and 
fat and is not very high in fiber. Wheat bran weighs about 
one-half a pound to the quart and because of this bulkiness 
and its high feeding value it is one of the finest dairy feeds 
that we have. Some years ago the writer had one of his 
students write to the feeders of the forty highest record cows 
in all four dairy breeds and ask them for the feeds in their 
rations. Twenty-two persons answered. The only feed 
used in the ration by all twenty-two feeders was wheat bran. 
This shows that wheat bran is the universal dairy feed liked 
by all the advanced registry men as well as the plain every 
day feeders of the land. 

Wheat bran is mildly laxative due to a phosphorous com- 
pound in it and not entirely to its bulky nature as is thought 
by most persons. This quality adds much to its great value 
as a feed. This laxative quality makes it a very desirable 
feed for convalescing animals when fed as a hot mash pre- 
pared with hot water. Bran is one of those feeds that is 
neither a roughage nor a concentrate. It is generally classed 
as a concentrate but like a roughage an animal can gorge 
herself on wheat bran and suffer no ill effects. Therefore it 
can be used in any quantity in a ration but because of its 
bulk and because it is not as highly digestible as other con- 
centrates, if for no other reason, it cannot with profit be 
made the sole grain fed. It finds its greatest usefulness as 
an ingredient of a mixture composed of about four or five 
feeds in all. 

Wheat bran lacks lime although it is high in phosphorous. 
Therefore it makes an ideal feed to be fed in a good grain 
mixture with alfalfa or clover hay which have the lime the 
bran lacks. Good legume roughage with heavily eared 
corn silage and a good supply of bran form a fine foundation 
for any ration. 

Bran is particularly fine in a ration for growing animals 
with legume hay. For years my standard mixture for grow- 
ing animals has been; 30 pounds wheat bran, 30 pounds 
ground oats, 30 pounds hominy or corn meal, 10 pounds oil 
meal, with legume hay and corn silage. So fine a growing 
combination is wheat bran and alfalfa hay that I once heard 

Page One Hundred Thirty 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
Toseph E. Wing say that such a ration when fed to pregnant 
ewes caused the unborn lambs to grow such large bone that 
the ewes had trouble at lambing time in giving birth to such 
large lambs. 

A good bran should analyze 16 per cent, protein, 4.4 per 
cent, fat, 53.7 per cent, carbohydrates other than fiber, and 
not to exceed 9.5 per cent, fiber, and should contain at least 
1218 pounds of total digestible nutrients per ton. These 
figures are the average of the analyses of 7,742 samples. 
Therefore one should always find out the analysis of his bran 
particularly if it contains screenings and check up and see if 
it is up to the average standard. 

Bran from local country mills is likely to be fresher and 
more palatable than bran from large western mills because 
it has not been milled so long and because it is likely that 
more flour is sticking to it because it may not be so closely 
milled. 

WHEAT FEED, MIDDLINGS AND RED DOG 

What has been said of bran applies to wheat mixed feed. 
Wheat feed is supposed to be the mill run of all the wheat 
by-products mixed together in the same proportion as they 
come from the wheat. Because the other finer by-products 
are mixed with the bran mixed feed contains more digestible 
matter per ton and is therefore a more valuable feed than 
bran. It can be used in the ration anywhere that bran can 
be used. 

As we go down in fineness through the different grades 
of middlings to red dog and low grade flours the amount of 
digestible nutrients per ton increases and with this the feed- 
ing value but there is a loss in palatability and bulkiness. 
But all of these feeds can be used to good advantage in the 
dairy ration if combined properly with other concentrates. 

The middlings have a very high value for feeding hogs 
to supplement corn. One of the best hog men in the middle 
west uses middlings to supplement alfalfa for a growing 
ration for pregnant sows and growing pigs in the same way 
as suggested above in the use of bran with alfalfa for growing 
young cattle. His mixture to be fed with skimmed milk is 
made of 56 pounds corn meal, 48 pounds ground barley, 32 
pounds ground oats, 136 pounds flour middlings, 50 pounds 
alfalfa meal. 

In summer on pasture the alfalfa meal is cut out of the 
mixture. Thus it is seen that middlings are considered a 

Page One Hundred Thirty-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

good protein supplement with corn, barley, oats and alfalfa 
in a growing ration. 

SCREENINGS 

In cleaning up wheat for milling a large amount of 
by-product called screenings is secured. This may have con- 
siderable value for feeding if it contains a large amount of 
broken wheat and valuable weed seeds. Screenings are 
variable however, on account of the dirt and chaff that they 
contain. They should always be thoroughly ground before 
feeding in order to destroy all weed seeds and make sure that 
they will not get back on the land through the cow. 

In order to get rid of the screenings to good advantage 
millers have adopted the practice of grinding these screen- 
ings and mixing them with the bran or middlings and selling 
the product as "wheat bran with screenings not exceeding 
mill run" or "wheat bran with mill run of screenings". This 
means that ground screenings in quantity not exceeding that 
in the wheat from which the bran is derived, have been mixed 
with the bran. The same applies to mixtures of wheat 
middlings and screenings. Bran or other wheat by-product 
mixed with screenings is subject to state license and inspec- 
tion in most states and one should always know the analysis 
of the wheat by-product that he is buying and see that it is 
up to the standard. 

All things considered the wheat plant gives us a wonder- 
ful series of foods valuable to us as humans both as food 
directly and indirectly as food to us through our animals. 



XXX. Buckwheat and Its By-Products. Rice and Its 
By-Products. Sorghums and Millets 

IN PREVIOUS articles all of the common cereals and their 
main by-products used for feeding dairy cows and drv 
stock have been discussed. There are some plants more 
or less resembling cereals or used like them that should have 
some discussion in this series of papers on the "Sources of 
Feeds". The first of these common feeds is buckwheat. 

BUCKWHEAT AND ITS PRODUCTS 

The buckwheat plant is not as useful as a plant to be pas- 
tured or as a green soiling crop. Its whole use is through 
the grain that it bears. From the fact that buckwheat will 
produce a good crop on relatively poor land it is grown on 
parts of farms that otherwise would not produce much grain. 

Page One Hundred Thirty-two 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 
Buckwheat is useful as a grain for dairy cows and young 
stock when ground but the buckwheat shucks or hulls have 
no feeding value so that compared with the cereals, oats, 
barley and corn, ground buckwheat is much less valuable. 
It is a case of the valuable part of the seed being diluted with 
a worthless part so that the whole is rather low. To reduce 
the value to comparative terms I would say that ground 
buckwheat is probably a little more valuable than wheat bran 
and less valuable than ground oats for feeding cows. The 
number of pounds of total digestible nutrients in one ton of 
ground buckwheat is 1268, compared with 1218 pounds in a 
ton of wheat bran and 1400 pounds in a ton of ground oats. 
There is more protein in the bran so that possibly the wheat 
bran is just as valuable as the ground buckwheat "pound for 
pound when we consider the extra protein in the bran. 
Ground buckwheat is 10.8 per cent, protein, 8.1 per cent, 
digestible, and wheat bran is about 16 per cent, protein, 12.5 
per cent, digestible. So we can see that the use of bran in 
place of ground buckwheat would increase the protein in the 
grain mixture and add more bulk to the mixture than the 
ground buckwheat. Therefore, it has been my suggestion 
to farmers having buckwheat to grind, that they sell the 
buckwheat and buy wheat bran whenever they can make the 
exchange at the same price. They have to go to town to 
get the buckwheat ground at a cost of 15 to 20 cents a 
hundred so that at the same price per ton the exchange is in 
favor of the wheat bran. 

BUCKWHEAT HULLS 

Before going into a discussion of the by-products of buck- 
wheat I think it will be well to get a clear understanding of 
the comparative feeding value of buckwheat hulls. The 
quickest way to get this is to make a comparison to wheat 
straw. No dairyman would think of feeding wheat straw. 

Wheat Straw Buckwheat Hulls 

Crude protein 3.1% 4.4% 

Fiber 37.4 43.7 

Nitrogen free extract 44.4 38.5 

Fat 1.5 1.0 

When we study the digestible analysis we see an even 
less comparative value for the hulls. 

Wheat Straw Buckwheat Hulls 

Digestible protein 0.7%; 0.4% 

Digestible carbohydrates 35.1 13.9 

Digestible fat 0.5 0.7 

Total digestible nutrients in one ton 738 lbs. 318 lbs. 

Therefore it is seen that ground wheat straw would be 

twice as good to mix with buckwheat middlings to lighten 

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Feeding Dairy Cattle 

them up as wheat straw. This shows conclusively that the 
hulls are not worth drawing home. 

BUCKWHEAT FEED 

Buckwheat feed is a mixture of buckwheat hulls and 
buckwheat middlings and is valuable in proportion to the 
amount of middlings which it contains. A buckwheat feed 
is subject to the feed inspection law and must be licensed in 
New York State and should be subject to the same law in 
any state as any manufactured feed. In many places small 
millers are selling the buckwheat feed without license and 
without guaranteeing the analysis or naming the ingredients. 
Mixing in such worthless hulls with the middlings is bad 
practice. .The only way for farmers to combat it is to refuse 
the feed and demand the clear middlings unmixed with the 
hulls. Sometimes mixing of the hulls is somewhat covered 
up by regrinding the hulls so as to deceive the purchaser as 
to the amount of hulls present in the feed. 

BUCKWHEAT MIDDLINGS 

There is no feed much better for milk production than 
good buckwheat middlings unmixed and undiluted with hulls. 
The amount of digestible protein in buckwheat middlings is 
about 24 per cent, as compared with 21.6 per cent, in gluten 
feed. The total digestible nutrients in one ton of buckwheat 
middlings is 1532 and in gluten feed 1614, so it is seen that the 
buckwheat middlings are well up to the value of gluten feed. 
When made in a good local mill the value is likely to be fully 
as high if not higher than these figures represent. 

A study of the analyses of buckwheat feeds as given in 
the last Geneva Experiment Station bulletin on Feed Inspec- 
tion shows a tremendous variation in the composition of 
buckwheat feed. One guarantee is as low as 5 per cent, 
protein whereas on the other end of the variation we rind a 
feed guaranteeing 20 per cent, protein. Others guaranteed 
18 per cent, with one or two at 10 per cent. Good straight 
middlings apparently run about 30 per cent, total protein. 
It seems to me that the best practice for millers is to throw 
the shucks away and sell good straight buckwheat middlings. 

RICE AND ITS BY-PRODUCTS 

Of course very little rice will ever be used as such for 
animal food because of its great value as a human food, but 
there seems to be some rice bran and rice polish on the mar- 
ket, both of which are good feeds and desirable to buy if one 
has the opportunity. Rice bran is low in protein and differs 

Page One Hundred Thirty-four 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

from wheat bran in this regard but is fairly digestible when 
of high grade and has about 13 16 pounds of total digestible 
nutrients to the ton. It should be used in the place of corn 
meal, ground oats or ground barley instead of as wheat bran 
because of its low protein content. Rice polish could be 
used as one would use a fine flour middling but here again 
the rice polish would need more protein supplement than the 
wheat middlings. 

Rice hulls are comparable to the buckwheat hulls, the 
analysis of which is given above only worse. In 2000 pounds 
of rice hulls are found only 284 pounds of total digestible 
nutrients. The hulls are unpalatable and should never be 
fed to animals. In buying rice bran one should see that 
there are no hulls in it. Here as in all cases, the analysis 
should be studied with care and the statement as to ingredi- 
ents studied well to know that only rice bran is present and 
nothing else. 

MISCELLANEOUS GRAINS— SORGHUMS AND MILLET 

The sorghums are used for both forage and grain. They 
are of two general types the sweet or saccharine sorghums 
and the non-saccharine sorghum. The sweet sorghums are 
grown for forage and the non-saccharine types for both for- 
age and grain. The principal use of sorghu mis as a substi- 
tute for corn in localities of insufficient rainfall to guarantee 
a crop of corn. It is probably not worth while in this 
article to spend much time on these as most of the readers 
of the WORLD will depend on corn. I think it is safe to say 
that there is no reason to try to grow' any of the sorghums 
when corn will mature. Amber forage is a sweet sorghum. 
There are three principal types of the grain sorghums, 
kafir with compact erect heads, durra heads compact and 
pendent and the broom corn type, heads loose and spreading. 
There are many varieties coming under each of these three 
types. "Milo maize" and "feterita" are of the durra type. 
"Shallu" and "kaoliang" are varieties in the broom corn 
group. All of these sorghums are grown more or less in the 
semi-arid parts of the United States, where it is too dry for 
corn and their value is proved by the great increase in 
acreage in the past few years. 

The millets are rapid growing annual plants which may 
be used as hot weather catch crops. The most common type 
is the "foxtail millet" or "common millet". "Hungarian" 
millet and "German" are coarser larger yielding varieties 
which sacrifice in quality of forage and earliness what is 

Page One Hundred Thirty-five 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

gained in quantity. Japanese millet, or "billion dollar grass" 
and "teosinte" are millets of little value. Where some millet 
is indicated as a forage catch crop probably the best results 
will be obtained by sticking to the "common" foxtail millet, 
sowing it thickly and cutting it early. 



XXXI. The Oil Meals 
Cottonseed, Linseed, Cocoanut and Soy Bean 

THE oil meals most used for feeding at the present time 
are cottonseed oil meal, linseed oil meal, peanut oil 
meal and copra oil meal. In connection with these it 
is well to discuss some of the other by-products of these and 
closely allied industries. We will first take up cottonseed 
products. 

In May, 1918, the value of the by-products from cotton- 
seed of an annual cotton crop of 11,500,000 bales was given 
at $413,540,000. The oil from this cottonseed was valued 
at $246,340,000; the meal was valued at $111,238,000; the 
hulls and the linters would bring the remainder which 
amounts to $55,873,000. These prices serve to indicate what 
a tremendous business it is and also shows that the meal 
represents only about one-third of the total value of the 
cottonseed. 

In the preparation of cottonseed meal the first step is to 
treat the seeds. The clean seeds then go to linter machines 
and here most of the cotton which still clings to the seeds is 
removed. The seeds are next hulled by passing them through 
revolving disks in which knives are set and the seeds are 
separated into the hulls and meats. The hulls are sold as 
such by most oil mills, but may later be mixed with the 
cottonseed meal for feeding. 

The meats or kernels are next treated to extract the oil. 
The main process used in this is to cook the kernels with 
live steam and then the oil is pressed out, the seeds being 
.kept hot during the pressing process. 

After the cottonseed cake comes out of the press it is 
either broken up or ground up into a fine meal which we 
recognize as cottonseed meal. This meal contains a certain 
^proportion of hulls and varies with the mill as to the amount 
of hull mixed in with the meal, and it varies with the mill 
whether the hulls are mixed in with the kernels before press- 
ing, and thus become a part of the cake, or whether the cake 
-is pressed free from hulls and then the hulls added afterwards. 

Page One Hundred Thirty-six 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

Whatever the process of manufacture, the resulting meal 
is graded into three grades. The first grade, choice cotton- 
seed meal which is defined as follows : "Choice cottonseed 
meal must be finely ground, not necessarily bolted, perfectly 
sound and sweet in odor, yellow, free from excess lint and 
must contain at least 41 per cent, protein." 

The second quality of cottonseed meal contains more 
hulls than the first and consequently less protein. This 
second quality is called prime cottonseed meal and is 
defined as follows : "Prime cottonseed meal must be finely 
ground, not necessarily bolted, of sweet odor, reasonably 
bright in color, yellow not brown or reddish, free from 
excess lint and must contain at least 38.6 per cent protein." 

The third quality of meal is called good cottonseed meal 
and is defined officially as follows : "Good cottonseed meal 
must be finely ground, not necessarily bolted, of sweet odor, 
reasonably bright in color and must contain at least 36 per 
cent, protein." 

Thus it will be seen that no by-product of the cottonseed 
industry can be called a meal and be sold as such unless it 
contains 36 per cent, protein. Any by-product of cottonseed 
sold for feeding purposes must be designated cottonseed feed 
if there is less than 36 per cent, protein in it. 

In tentative definitions it has been proposed to change 
the name of the two lower grades of cottonseed meal to 
medium and lower grade cottonseed meal instead of prime 
and good cottonseed meal. There is a feeling that cotton- 
seed meal containing only 36 per cent, protein and thus a 
large number of hulls should not be called good cottonseed 
meal. 

To show the amount of hulls which may be incorporated 
into these three grades of meal the following result of analy- 
sis is given. A choice cottonseed meal containing at least 
41 per cent, protein may contain 9.2 per cent, hulls by weight. 
Prime cottonseed meal running between 38.6 per cent, and 
41 per cent, protein may contain 13 per cent, hulls. Good 
or low grade cottonseed meal may contain as high as 27 per 
cent, hulls and still have 36 per cent, protein in it. There- 
fore, it will be seen that when a farmer buys good cottonseed 
meal, so called, he may be buying as high as 27 per cent, 
hulls, or one-fourth of his meal may be hulls. Cottonseed 
hulls are about the poorest material that we can think of for 
feeding our animals. Since there are so many hulls to be 
gotten rid of, the amount of cottonseed meal on the market 
the past year has been almost entirely of the 36 per cent 

Page One Hundred Thirty-seven 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

variety. Cottonseed meal may contain as high as 50 per 
cent, protein. 

When one sees that a good cottonseed meal containing 
36 per cent, protein may contain as high as 27 per cent, hulls 
one easily realizes what a cottonseed feed is made of which 
is usually guaranteed to contain 20 per cent, protein. Such 
cottonseed feeds may contain as high as 80 per cent, hulls. 
The ground hulls have so much the appearance of the meal 
that it is impossible for one who is not expert to recognize 
the difference between a good cottonseed meal and a cotton- 
seed feed containing only 20 per cent, protein. I do not 
believe that cottonseed feed is ordinarily sold as cottonseed 
meal, but I do believe that the higher grade meals are the 
less expensive meals to buy. 

In order to get a comparison of feeding values it may be 
said that an average sample of choice cottonseed meal will 
have in it about 1564 pounds of total digestible nutrients, 
prime cottonseed meal 15 10 pounds of total digestible nutri- 
ents and good cottonseed meal 1496 pounds of total digesti- 
ble nutrients to the ton. Therefore, the 36 per cent, meal is 
only about seven-eighths the value of the choice cottonseed 
meal. Cottonseed feed containing 20 per cent, protein has 
in it only 11 54 pounds of total digestible nutrients to the ton 
which makes it little better than good hay for feeding. 

THE MANURIAL VALUE OF COTTONSEED MEAL 

To illustrate the value of the high protein feeds as sources 
of fertilizing materials to our farms, we will call attention to 
the value of choice cottonseed meal. If a farmer should 
buy a ton of choice cottonseed meal and spread it on his land 
he would be putting on his land the equivalent of 171. 4 
pounds of ammonia, 53.4 pounds of phosphoric acid and 36.2 
pounds potash. At the current values of fertilizing ingredi- 
ents one ton of cottonseed meal used as a fertilizer would 
have a value comparable to commercial fertilizers of similar 
nature. 

Suppose that instead of spreading this cottonseed meal 
directly on the land we feed it to cows. According to K. O. 
Pippin's estimates, Cornell University bulletin 127, entitled 
"Farm Manure", it is estimated that the cow would return in 
her manure 30 per cent, of the ammonia, 50 per cent, of the 
phosphoric acid and 40 per cent, of the potash. Therefore, 
after it has served its usefulness as a feed the resulting ma- 
nure would have a fertilizing value equivalent to 51.4 pounds 
of ammonia, 26.7 pounds of phosphoric acid and 14.5 pounds 

Fage One Hundred Thirty-eight 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

of potash as purchased in commercial fertilizers. There- 
fore, when a man purchases a high protein feed, such as 
cottonseed meal or oil meal, he can make a substantial reduc- 
tion from the first cost price of the manurial value of these 
high protein feeds when the manure and urine are properly 
conserved. 

FEEDING COTTONSEED MEAL 

Cottonseed meal is a valuable source of protein and about 
the cheapest source of protein that we have during most 
years. This feed is particularly valuable for feeding dairy 
cattle, because when used in reasonable quantities in the 
mixture no harm seems to come from it. I usually advise 
that the cottonseed meal in a given mixture of concentrates 
for dairy cows should not exceed 40 per cent, of the mixture 
by weight. If gluten feed is being fed in the same mixture, 
I would not have the gluten and the cottonseed together 
exceed 40 per cent, of the mixture of concentrates by weight. 
There is a feeling that cottonseed meal feeding has a bad 
influence on tbe udder and that animals fed highly on cotton- 
seed meal are predisposed to garget and other udder trouble... 
Also there is a feeling that high protein feeding, par- 
ticularly of cottonseed meal will produce a harsh feeling 
hide, poor handling qualities and rough stary coat. How- 
ever, admitting all of these criticisms to be more or less true. 
I still feel that we must make a large use of cottonseed meal 
in our dairy cow rations. 

I would not feed cottonseed meal to horses, to hogs or 
to cattle under one year old. It is of great value as a pro- 
tein supplement in rations for beef cattle. The general 
effect of cottonseed meal in feeds is constipating, and cotton- 
seed meal is not advised if linseed meal is as cheap when 
there is no silage in the ration. 

LINSEED OIL MEAL 

One of the most useful feeds to the American farmer is 
oil meal from flax. Flax itself is too valuable for the oil it 
contains to be used as such for feeding although a small 
amount of ground flax seed is sometimes fed to calves. 

In the manufacture of oil the flaxseed is ground, warmed 
up and the linseed oil pressed out leaving the cake behind. 
Most farmers like their oil meal ground up. European 
farmers who import much oil meal like it best in the form of 
the slabs just as they come from the press and break up these 
slabs in their own way. This is a sure way of not getting 
adulterated meal. This oil cake broken up into nut or pea 

Page One Hundred Thirty-nine 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

size is very palatable and in this size is preferred by lamb 
feeders to use as a supplement to corn. 

At one time the linseed oil was extracted from the flax 
seed by another process, the oil being dissolved out with 
naphtha. The residue from this process was called new pro- 
cess oil meal. Only occasionally is such a meal encountered 
now. The new process oil meal contained less fat and was 
not as palatable. 

The healthful qualities of old process oil meal add to its 
value. It is one of the finest high protein feeds we have and 
in addition it is laxative and stimulating to appetite and milk 
flow. There are 1558 pounds of total digestible nutrients to 
the ton in oil meal which shows its high value as a feed com- 
pared with all other feeds. Oil meal contains about 33 per 
cent, total protein of which 30 per cent, is digestible. On 
account of its valuable properties I should consider oil meal 
in a mixture of concentrates fully as valuable pound for 
pound as choice cottonseed meal or gluten feed. It makes 
a fine combination with these feeds. The manurial value 
of linseed oil meal would be somewhat less than that of the 
higher grade cottonseed meals because of a less protein 
content. 

Linseed oil meal can be fed in any quantity to any animal 
provided that animal does not scour. Oil meal is laxative, 
and therefore, the amount that can be fed is limited. This 
feed is very useful in mixtures used for fitting cows for test. 
Here as high as 25 per cent, is often used in the mixture. 
In rations for milking cows or in production rations 20 to 30 
per cent, can be used very well. It is a particularly fine feed 
for all growing animals and is fine for young calves with oats, 
bran and hominy. This feed is so good as a conditioner that 
it is often used as the base of so-called stock feeds and condi- 
tion powders where a very high price is paid for it under a 
fancy name. Well animals, with a little oil meal with other 
good foods in their ration, do not need any stock feeds or 
condition powders and it is a waste of money to buy them. 

OTHER FLAX PLANT BY-PRODUCTS 

Flax feed consists of flax screenings and is not generally 
found on the market except as a component of mixed feeds. 

Flax plant by-product contains some of the stem, some 
of the pods and some of the broken or immature flax seeds. 
It has little if any feeding value and should be avoided as 
such or as a component of mixed feeds. Sometimes the oil 
may be extracted from the unscreened flax seed giving us 

Page One Hundred Fortv 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

what has been called "laxo" meal. Its value would of course 
be less than that of oil meal on account of screenings present. 

PEANUT BY-PRODUCTS 

Peanut oil is being used more than ever. It is another 
indication of the world shortage of fats. The extraction of 
oil from peanuts gives us two by-products, peanut oil meal 
and peanut feed. The difference is whether the peanut 
shucks are in or not. In the peanut oil meal the peanuts 
have been shelled before pressing. Peanut oil meal is a very 
high protein feed containing as high as 47 per cent, total 
protein. It is a highly digestible desirable feed, palatable to 
practically all animals. 

The peanut feed is made from the unhulled nuts and the 
shucks reduce the protein to about 2$ per cent, and raises 
the fiber to about 27 per cent. The peanut shucks are very 
poor feed and practically worthless. Therefore, one should 
be very careful of the price in buying this feed. Peanut 
shucks are sometimes used as an adulterant but feeding stuffs 
laws are gradually eliminating this sort of thing. 

COCOANUT OIL MEAL 

The demand for vegetable fats for nut butters and other 
uses has very greatly increased the production of cocoanut 
oil. Cocoanut oil is derived from the dried cocoanut meats. 
These dried cocoanut meats are produced in large quantities 
in the Philippines and other Pacific islands. The com- 
mercial name for dried cocoanut meats is copra. This has 
given rise to another name, copra oil meal which is synony- 
mous with cocoanut oil meal. 

Cocoanut oil meal is a clean, fine, finely ground meal of 
pleasant odor and taste which is palatable to dairy cows. 
It is probably a little less valuable pound for pound than 
gluten feed and can be used very much like gluten feed. 
Cocoanut oil meal contains about 20 to 23 per cent, total 
protein of which 18.8 per cent, is digestible. There are 
about 1580 pounds of total digestible nutrients in a ton. 
You will remember that the total digestible nutrients in a ton 
of gluten feed is 161 2. One of the things which has been 
urged against cocoanut oil meal as a feed has been the fact 
that it will not keep in storage. I have kept in storage in 
southern New York nine tons of cocoanut oil meal for eigh- 
teen months i-n an ordinary storage shed that was dry and 
hot. During the summer the cocoanut oil meal did not get 
at all rancid but it did become somewhat lumpy. However, 

Page One Hundred Forty-one 



Feeding Dairy Cattle 

it was not much trouble in crushing the lumps with a shovel. 
This is a new feed which is likely to increase in quantity and 
farmers should make themselves familiar with it so that it 
can be purchased whenever there is a price advantage. 

SOYBEAN MEAL 

A little soybean oil meal comes on the market occasion- 
ally. It is the by-product of the manufacture of oil from 
soybeans. The by-product when available is one of the very 
highest of the desirable high protein feeds. It will run 
about 40 per cent, protein of which 38 per cent, is digestible 
and there is about 1660 pounds of total digestible nutrients 
in a ton. Soybean oil meal is supposed to have an extra 
value on account of the vitamines contained in it. It is 
doubtful, however, for general feeding whether it would be 
worth any more than choice cottonseed meal. 

Other oil meals of somewhat the same value would be 
the palm nut oil meal and oil meal from sunflower seeds. 
These, however, are of so small a quantity on the market 
that it is not worth while to go much into discussion. When 
available they would be used in much the same way and have 
much the same value of the oil meals that have already been 
described. 

VELVET BEAN MEAL AND FEED 

The acreage of velvet beans grown in the South is gain- 
ing and more and more we are having velvet bean meal and 
velvet bean feed available for feeding dairy cattle. The 
oil is not extracted from velvet beans so that velvet bean 
meal is the whole ground bean. The amount of fat in velvet 
beans is not high so it is not likely that velvet beans will 
ever be used as a source of oil. Velvet bean meal should be 
a very good feed of about 20 per cent, total protein with 
about 1600 pounds of total digestible nutrients to the ton. 
Velvet bean feed is made by grinding the beans, pod and all 
together after they have been thoroughly dried. Of course 
the pod is not so valuable as the bean and this gives us a 
product with less protein, having only about 17 per cent, 
with more fiber. The pod is not so digestible as the seeds, 
consequently the amount of digestible nutrients is lowered 
to something less than 1500. This makes velvet bean feed' 
about the same value and usefulness as wheat feed. 

This finishes the description of the oil meals and one or 
two of the meals derived from some of the legume seeds. 
This whole class of feeds makes up one of the most valuable 
of our sources of feeds for feeding dairy cattle. 
Page One Hundred Forty-two ' 



